the struggles

my life is so hard! this morning i burnt my tongue on my hot Starbucks so now I'm going to have to get cold Starbucks for the rest of the week. and imessage wasn't working today, like what the heck apple get it together i hate when my texts are green instead of blue. and on top of that my moms car doesn't have an auxiliary cord for me to listen to music on my phone so i actually had to listen to the radio like who does that.. ugh its just been a bad day i took a really cute picture and i was going to instagram it but i couldn't pick which filter looked best so i just gave up and chose one and it only got 10 likes, i knew i should have gone with "Lo-fi" instead of "Hefe" it is seriously such a big difference. And on top of that Netflix was taking forever to load AND i couldn't find my remote so i actually had to watch commercials instead of fast forwarding through them. and i have to send out my Christmas list to all my family members and I only know of 10 things to ask for and i have 15 people in my family.. it really sucks having so many people that want to get my presents like can we just kick some of them out of the family?

a world with no evil.

there is a movie called the Invention of Lying, basically it is two guys who live in a world where no one lies, no one knows what lying is, everyone tells the truth 100% of the time. One day these guys figure out that they can lie and no one will question them; for example, they both get very drunk one afternoon and get pulled over for drunk driving. The cop gives him a breathalyzer test and of course he fails, because he is drunk! but his friend looks at the cops and says officer, he's not drunk! and the officer apologizes profusely  and lets them go even though the proof was right in his hands that the man was actually drunk. imagine how many lies you tell on a weekly basis, or even just a daily basis. whether it be telling your teacher you left your homework at home when you really didnt do it, telling your mom you did your homework when you didnt, even the littlest white lies. a world without lying sound pretty impossible. i think all of us would agree that lying is a bad thing, sure you can make multiple arguments that in certain situations its the better thing to do but all in all its a bad thing. but just because i lie does that make me a bad person? no, it just means sometimes i do bad things. and this applies to everyone. our world is not black and white, our world is gray. the same goes for good and evil.

Know Thy Neighbor

      This year in English, I have the opportunity to sit in between two lovely ladies that always make 4th hour seem to go by a lot faster. On my left is Callie McMullin. I believe I met her sometime last year through mutual friends and through Spanish Club. Before that, we had never had any classes together and thus I had never been given the opportunity to meet and befriend her. Looking back on last year, I'm forever grateful that I got that chance. If I had to choose an animal to best describe her, it would be a Koala Bear. Koalas tend to be very independent and that is exactly how I see Callie. She knows what she wants in life and she isn't going to let anything get in her way or let any negativity bring her down. On the other hand, Koalas are also very loving and thus after them is named the "koala hug" in which a person will hold on tightly to another and furiously hang on very tightly. I also see Callie doing this - and not only because I've actually physically seen her do this to people either. Anytime myself or anyone else is in a bad mood, she goes out of her way to attempt to cheer them up even if it is an inconvenience to her. That is one of the many aspects of Callie that I truly respect and admire. I would like to say that we support each other anytime the other needs a helping hand. If I hadn't met her last year, I'm not quite what would have happened.
      On the other side of me, my right side, sits Sarah Laytham. Much like Callie, I didn't know Sarah until last year. In fact, I believe it was last years 4th hour English class with Mr. Behler where I met Sarah. I remember, it was Sarah, Bay Phillips, Josh Day and myself at a table together. That was the best table I sat in all year. Between joking about alcoholism, poking fun at ourselves, or Josh and I suggesting that Bay and Sarah draw sharks and llamas in their notebooks, I'm fairly positive Mr. Behler got an interesting ear-full every single day. He probably thought we were insane. Sarah and I only have a surface relationship for I don't know much about her aspirations in life. One thing I am certain in though is that she is a phenomenal artist and it would be a shame if she chose to not continue with it. Oh, plus she has good taste in manga - that's another thing we did in English last year too. I realize I am not Sarah's first choice in that class and I am completely fine with that because it is unnecessary. One may still have an amicable relationship with someone they sit by without having to constantly be interacting or working together for everything. In 5 years, I see Sarah to be very successful in the endeavor she chooses just because she is so extremely determined that I know once she sets her mind to something, if her heart is really in it, she will truly strive to make it happen.
      Between both Sarah and Callie, I know they have a lot to deal with seeing as how I can be a handful at times. Whether I'm stressing out, having a bad day, or just having a truly wonderful day, I know those girls will always try and make me feel better or perhaps I can offer some positivity to them when they need it. Whether it be just because of the seat partner obligation, I find that irrelevant. Everyone has their moments but knowing you have someone to help with those stressful moments, even for just 45 minutes a day, can sometimes relieve a majority of the pressure. Sometimes, the non-judgmental ear of a seat partner is all one needs to blow off some steam. Nobody should ever reject a helping hand.

How Completely Typical

Okay, so most people imagine their extended family at Thanksgiving; their parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole shebang. Well, for me, I get to suffer through that in the middle of the summer, at my family reunion. No, my Thanksgiving is usually just my parents, sister and I going down to eat with both sets of grandparents. It's at my Nana and Grandpa's house (it's bigger) and is the only time of the year that I'll see my Memaw and Papa over at their house. It's all fun and junk because I love my family to pieces...well, that second part is true. This past Thanksgiving was different in a few ways: my Memaw and Papa didn't come (my dad described it to me as my Memaw "pouting") and so we just ate with my Nana and Grandpa (who are my mom's parents, just in case anyone was curious.)

One typical thing that was no different than usual was the obscenely late eating time (I had skipped breakfast in my rush to leave for our three hour car trip down to visit.) Another thing that wasn't really different was the fact that my Grandpa hogged the conversation. My sister and I were effectively cut out from the conversation as he talked about small town gossip and high school sports teams (I swear he knows what sport every pubescent child in that county and the next plays. I suppose as a high school girl's basketball coach a bit is warranted, but when you know the grandparents and parents of every member of the opposing team, something is a bit weird.) So at one point I turned to my sister and said "So how are you?" in an attempt to talk about something.  My sister and I joked a bit at our lack in involvement in the conversation and then went on our way.

Apparently this "joke" upset my Nana though and she complained to our mom about how it hurt my Grandpa's feelings and while this seems like a tangent, it really isn't. This is my family, and while I don't make my Nana cry every single Thanksgiving, this is about the caliber of most of my interactions with my family. Later that day we went to visit my dad's side, and there were sat and "talked" (I was actually playing Pokemon Black 2 the entire time, but who's counting) while the tv played in the background. One of the multiple great aunts of mine came by and dropped some food off (they live just down the road and we will sometimes visit them on Thanksgiving for a moment, it's usually not for long and I honestly can't tell most of that family apart.)

Pretty much this sums up my Thanksgivings. My feelings towards Thanksgiving pretty much go as follows: at least it gets us a week off. And as much as I love my grandparents, I can almost understand why my parents complain about them so much (almost.)

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving consists of a hectic mix of family coming into town, preparing loads of food that one would think impossible to eat in one sitting, and eating the load of food that one would think impossible to eat in one sitting. As both of my parents are divorced and remarried, I get the satisfaction of eating two Thanksgiving meals with two different families. Though this sounds fantastic, it is nearly impossible to gorge myself with food at lunch, and then proceed to gorge myself at the following meal. Though somehow I manage to do so. I cherish this holiday as a time to spend time with family members, watch football, and go Christmas shopping with my grandmother on the following day. Very few times per year do I get to see all of my family together, and Thanksgiving is one of those times. One of my best memories of the holiday is when my uncle, after living in Wisconsin and not pending very many holidays with us came to spend Thanksgiving with us. He has kept doing so ever since, and I look forward to seeing him every year, as I get to see him even less than the rest of my family.

Turkey Day

Every thanksgiving I do the exact same thing. I go to my dad's house on Tuesday night, do whatever needs to be done to prepare for dinner on Thursday, have 30 or so people at the house thursday night, eat a lot, sleep, wake up, eat pie for breakfast, go to my grandmother's house, wait til the next night, eat more with like 15 people, sleep, get up, go to church, and come back to Lexington. I love thanksgiving don't get me wrong it's awesome food, friends, family, it's got it all, but I am sort of getting bored of this. I want to do something different. I guess next year I will probably do what I always have but maybe when I go to college I will start my own thanksgiving. I think it will be small, just five or six friends. I don't want family either. I get enough of that at Christmas. I want to have me and my friends eat a meal together and enjoy each other's company. I must say my favorite memory of the holiday would have to be the time my stepmother's student (she's a high school teacher), my brother, and I stole some dry ice from the IGA, filled 2liters with water and threw them into the yard to see them explode. Oh or that time we deep fried a whole frozen turkey. Yeah my family is all rednecks.

Assignment 13: Do you know your neighbor?

You are juniors. You are in the Academy. You sit next to each other in Mr. Logsdon's class. There are only a few days until the end of the semester.

I think it is safe to say that you know at least a little about each other. Your understanding of each other may include extra curriculars, favorite TV shows, hobbies, but your level of familiarity may also extend into knowing each other's personality. Are they intimidating, carefree, honest?

This week, write about the person you sit next to in English class. What do they do? What are they like? What color would you characterize them as and why? Where do you see them in five years? What type of animal are they like?

I know you're in a seating chart, but you are writing about your peers. Getting to know for the past few months, I have seen you as genuinely nice people and so I expect genuinely nice things in your posts. It doesn't have to be all puppies and ice cream cones, but your entries shouldn't cut anyone down.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, December 2 at 11:59 pm.

my stock image thanksgiving

every thanksgiving i go to florida to spend the holiday with my grandparents and my dad. our thanksgivng is very much the stock image thanksgiving, my gramma sets the dining room table very nicely and cooks all day for two days straight. we always have all the classics, turkey, country ham, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn casserole, pumpkin pie and apple pie. my gramma's old friend Gert also joins us for thanksgiving dinner and always brings a fabulous appetizer. i think my favorite part about thanksgiving and any other holiday that i am in florida is the quality time i get to spend with my grandparents. my jogie sits at the head of the table with my gramma and myself on wither side of him, he says this is the way it has to be because "the food tastes better with my two favorite girls on either side of me." i also love the food, i love food in general and i always eat way too much to where i feel like i am about to explode. this thanksgiving in particular was extraordinary bad, my jogie and i had to lay on the couch for a good hour and just watch tv while my gramma cleaned up but of course a few hours later we had room for leftovers. this thanksgiving im sure i gained 5 pounds from the amount of food i consumed but i never weigh myself so i guess ill never know.

Flying Turkeys

Thanksgiving has always been a holiday that I greatly enjoy. I guess you could say that my Thanksgivings match the stereotype pretty well. Usually, my grandparents on my mom's side, my uncle, my aunt, my three cousins, my sister, my parents, and I all get together to eat lunch after we've watched the Macy's parade. There's always turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, rolls, and all of your other typical Thanksgiving dishes. My mom makes a delicious pretzel salad each year, along with the pecan and chocolate pies that my grandma brings for dessert. After we eat, we all sit in the family room, some of us watching football and others watching the back of our eyelids. I can honestly say that I have no super fun and exciting Thanksgiving day memories. I guess all I can say is that I'm thankful that I haven't had any major accident or incident like you see on TV and that I know I'm really lucky to be able to have so many family members together for the holiday. I'm truly sorry if I've bored you.

Blog 12

I can honestly say that my normal thanksgiving is not too far off from the stock card one that you might see on a cliche T.V. show. The family comes to our house each year to get together for a nice meal. (They come to our house every year because I have family in Boston and Tampa and Lexington is almost dead in the middle) One thing that differs in my Turkey Day is that it never seems to be the same group of people two years in a row. Every year there is a part of the family that cant make it because of some reason or another, and another part of the family that comes that wasnt here the year before. One theme does remain the same though, it is either all my moms side of the family, or all my dads side of the family, never both. Its not that they dont get along great, its just thats how it usually ends up. Either way I always do enjoy thanksgiving. Between the food, family, football and break from school its hard not to enjoy it. All that being said, my favorite Thanksgiving ever was a few years ago when we decided to go to Florida over the break. It was just the four of us in my immediate family and something about that year just seemed better. Probably because I could look out at the ocean while eating Thanksgiving dinner instead of the usual cold that hits Kentucky this time of year.

Flying Turkeys (Blog #12)

Alright, I'm not going mince words here: Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. Now, normally I prefer to avoid directly and bluntly stating my opinions, especially when those opinions are based on my own personal experience. It makes it harder to properly convey my point to an audience if it's based on personal experience, something no one else shares, as opposed to conveying it through facts, which are generally applicable regardless of personal experience, but for this piece, my reasoning will mostly be based off of my personal experiences. With that out of the way, allow me to discuss why I dislike this holiday so much.

Okay, so... as we all know, Thanksgiving is usually a holiday in which the extended family comes together to meet, catch up, and eat. Now, my family is... a little complicated, but as a result, I was literally the only child in the house every single Thanksgiving, the youngest adult probably being around twenty-two when I was around six. Now, it is true that the adults would attempt to converse with me, but the generation gap often made these conversations rather... awkward, so I usually relegated myself to a quiet room with my handheld video games for most of the day. Sometimes, this was not that big of a problem, but there were years where I was really into a console game at the time, and having to be stuck in a house without those consoles and everyone hogging the televisions trying to watch Football was rather irritating. It did not really get better as I became a teenager, either, as things such as Wi-Fi started becoming a part of mainstream gaming and I obtained my first laptop as I quickly discovered that the house lacked Wi-Fi. "What about the food, though?" some may ask. Well, I have a problem with that, too.

As odd as it may sound, I have never enjoyed the traditional food served at Thanksgiving. Cranberries, turkey, potatoes, and such? I have never been a big fan of any of them, and being forced to consume that food definitely did not make me think any more fondly of the holiday. For me, Thanksgiving always felt like a waste of a vacation day where I could not even play some of the video games that I really looked forward to playing, and I am forced to eat food that I do not find particularly appetizing. Not to mention, I have always found turkeys to be a rather dull holiday mascot, but that's just getting nit-picky. Recently, due to events that I would rather not discuss, we no longer see the extended family on Thanksgiving anymore, but we still do eat the traditional food, but now the holiday has gone from being irritating to having almost as little of an effect on my day as President's Day or Marting Luther King Jr. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not, but at least I got to play my Wii U during Thanksgiving this year.

Disclaimer: I do not dislike my extended family; they are good people, and I am definitely lucky that I don't have to deal with any major feuds between anyone, but the generation gap between my extended family and me, like I said, made it difficult to really establish a proper relationship with any of them.

Thanksgiving Traditions

We usually go to my grandma's for Thanksgiving, and this year was no different.  She'll wake up around 4:30 or 5:00 and cook our meal until 1:00 or 2:00.  She takes care of us so well.  From mashed potatoes and mac'n cheese to sloppy joes and sweet spaghetti, our meals are a homey comfort food feast, even on Thanksgiving.  My step-uncle roasted a turkey, and it was quite delicious.  After our meal, we all gather around on her couch and take a good nap.  Something that made this year special was that I got her recipe for chess cake, and I made it for Friendsgiving, a dinner party at Freddie's house.  It's going to be a yearly tradition.  Turns out my grandmother isn't the only one to make chess cake; my youth pastor's grandma makes it as well.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I love that it brings family together and unites them at the dinner table.  I love the preparation it takes and the travel that occurs.  I see my family frequently, but when we can all eat and nap together, that's when I know we're a good family.  When my parents and I can sit down with my grandma and just talk about our lives, I know there aren't any gaps in our family.

My Big Fat Thanksgiving Dinner

For my family, Thanksgiving is definitely not a lot of people around one large decorated table. There is too many of us for that. Each year consists of me, my brothers, and my parents making the 5-hour drive to Merrillville, Indiana (which is about 30 minutes away from Chicago) to my grandparents's house to visit with my mom's enormous side of the family. When we get there on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, all of the women (excluding me because I don't like to cook....) start to prepare the food for the next day, as there is A LOT to make, including the turkey, greens, sweet potatoes, etc. When Thanksgiving finally rolls around and all of the food is ready, we say a prayer before eating, and then we dig in. There's always a kids table with all my little cousins, and then the rest of us pile around the TV in the family room to watch the game, sit at the kitchen table, or find extra space in a dining room, enjoying our meals. I really enjoy Thanksgiving with my family because I love being able to laugh, talk, and spend time with them as I don't see them that often. They all live at least an hour and a half away from Lexington, so I only see all of them about one to three times a year.
One of the most vivid memories of Thanksgiving would have to be last year's when we couldn't get the turkey to cook. The turkey was so big that it wouldn't fit in our oven, and our rotisserie cooker wasn't working right. We didn't know what to do, so we went out to buy an oil-less meat smoker. However, my mother, wanting to help with the turkey making, put a whole bunch of oil in the smoker and messed up the smoker we had just bought. Finally, we got our rotisserie to work and we got the turkey to cook.. Even though it delayed our dinner by two and a half hours...

Thanksgiving

This actually depicts my Thanksgiving pretty accurately. For my Thanksgiving I go to Columbus, Ohio where the rest of my family lives. We always have Thanksgiving at a huge house, named the Gay Chateau, on the family farm, Darby Dan. Typically everyone arrives out to the farm at about 8 o'clock and the cooking begins. This year we had four turkeys. One was a wild turkey which my dad killed last spring. This turkey was baked with light seasoning, your typical Thanksgiving turkey. The other three were store bought. Two are deepfried, one cajun flavor and one brine flavor. The last Turkey is stuffed with vegetables and injected with a special oil/sauce thingy and baked. Of course we have all of the other fixings as well: mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, rolls, and green beans. We have two long tables which are completely filled with all of my family members, but before we go through the buffet style serving we stand in a circle and read a prayer. The prayer is actually a poem which my grandfather wrote in the 70s. Anyway, after the prayer we have our huge dinner around 1 pm. After dinner everyone does their part to clean the dishes and tables and everything else. Then we have about a 6 hour nap/play/watch movies time. Then around 7:30 we have second dinner. Second dinner consists of eating all of the leftover turkey on hamburger buns plus baked beans and whatever other treats we can get our hands on. After this we do our best to decide on names for some of the foals on the farm back in Lexington. When this activity concludes it is usually around 10:15 at which point most of the adults will either retire to one of the 5 bedrooms or go back into town to sleep at their own house. This is when everything is left up to the cousins. Being the youngest by four years, aside from my siblings, things can get a bit dull for me as the activities usually involve drinking, but the older I get the more fun I can have because I understand more of their jokes and motivation behind their actions. This year we ended up in bed around 2am, leaving behind the best day of the year, already eager for the next one to come.

Thanksgiving Song

My Thanksgiving is getting up early November 22 and driving down to Somerset where my moms sister and her kids live. Arriving in Somerset around 12 and having my mom and aunt do the rest of the cooking. While my brother and I visit with our cousins. My moms good friend arrives with the smoked turkey that will be fantastic! At around 2 or 2:30 we sit down to eat. Yes, eat dinner. We are a family that for some reason has always eaten Thanksgiving meal as early as we can. We sit around the table for on 3 hours or so? During that time we eat dinner, desert and talk about anything and everything. We all crack each other up and for some reason any meal together we always end on teaching our parents, aunts and uncles all the "lingo" the "kids are using these days". This year we focused on Swag, YOLO, and Twitter- or tweeter and my uncle refers to it. After that we go our tired, slow separate ways to find a spot in the house to rest. My cousins, my brother and I go to the the lounge area so we can play cards and watch football. My mom falls asleep in a chair, my aunt falls asleep on the couch, my uncle falls asleep on another couch and my other uncle falls asleep in the basement. Then around 11 we all meander to our sleeping arrangements for the night.
Our tradition for the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas as well, is to go see a movie and then go out to eat. While we didn't follow that exactly this year we did stay in and watch Winters Bone but sadly no dinner with them after.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/update-sandler-thanksgiving-song/1179146/

#12

The stock image Thanksgiving involves a lot of people around a nicely decorated table with a large turkey and a ridiculous amount of extra food. This image doesn't always depict the reality of the holiday though.

What does your Thanksgiving look like? Do you enjoy the holiday? What is your strangest or most wonderful memory of the holiday?

Our thanksgiving changes every year depending on who decides to show up. My family isn't as close to our relatives like other families and we arent as large either. We used to have dinner at my grandmothers, who lived down the street. Now since she has gotten older and lives at a nursing home, its held at my house. Holidays arent a big thing in my family. Overall i dont really enjoy thanksgiving, but the week after is one of my favorites. All the family has left but the food is still here, and boy do i love ham. 

Holidays with my relatives are really strange. My dad's side is a bunch of loud, obnoxious rednecks. My mom's are proper and classy. Once people start getting food, its easy to tell which side they are from. Dad's side starts digging in as soon as they sit down. Spitting food, talking with their mouths open, and using their fingers. its disgusting. My mom's will sit down and wait till everyone has their food before they start to eat. they sit up straight, napkins in laps, and use polite table manners. How these two complete opposite families get along, i have no idea. 

Post 12

My Thanksgiving holiday is relatively traditional. We spend all week cooking and preparing the delicious food to all be eaten on that Thursday. Our table is set with the best dishes we have, we have the whole family come over, and we spend all day relaxing. Our Thanksgiving is typically a day of relaxation, and time spent watching football. My favorite Thanksgiving memory has to be when my dog ate the entire turkey. We went outside as a family to play the annual football game, and when we came back my one year old puppy was sitting on the dining room table licking her chops after devouring our much awaited turkey. My mom broke down to tears, my dad was worried about the dog and my mother, and I was still perplexed as to how that tiny little pup ate a whole turkey. That pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving experiences, and I look forward to many more stories that involve me actually eating the turkey as opposed to my dog.

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving table always looks like how you would imagine it to look. We have rolls, cranberry sauce, yams, mashed potatoes, gravy, some sort of meat like ham or turkey, a nicely set table, candles, and a pretty centerpiece. What I love most about this holiday is the preparation leading up to the feast. I love the hustle and bustle in the kitchen trying to make everything perfect, setting the table, and sitting down to toast everything we have. The warm conversation with family and friends throughout the day is what makes thanksgiving my favorite holiday; I know I will carry these memories with me forever. I will also remember the funny moments, like when we have to run to the store on Turkey Day itself to pick up last minute ingredients that we forgot, or trying to watch the parade every year and getting bored after a few minutes and turning it off. My Thanksgiving sounds pretty generic and traditional, but that’s why I like it. I am not normally one for tradition, but I have always liked that on thanksgiving people stop for a second to give thanks, eat and have fun, and enjoy with family.

The Year The Lukov Family Cooked The Turkey

      Bulgarians have never been big on Thanksgiving. Sure, we get to together and do the whole feast, but its more out of respect for American tradition. It's also an excuse to throw a huge party, but that's a whole other story! Every year, we round up all the Bulgarian families (by now there are at least 25 that we know of) and go to one of their houses to celebrate. This year, we did it a little differently. We took away our friends job of cooking the turkey and decided to make it ourselves since we were hosts. When mom brought it home Monday night, dad hadn't come back from work yet and we sort of just left it on the counter for a bit while we stared. Every minute or so, mom would mutter, "I can't cook this thing...it's a monster!" No need to worry though, we eventually we got it cooked! And might I add, it was delicious! We stuffed it with rice, mushrooms, chestnuts and herbs and boy was it good! The first guests arrived at around 7 carrying, as per custom, their own contribution to the table. That's another Bulgarian thing, we bring our own food and we eat really late. After everyone arrived, we had guests as young as 3 all the up to quite a few decades older...I won't say exactly how many now. The entire night couldn't have gotten better as can be observed by the fact that nobody left before midnight (Another Bulgarian thing. During another party, our family left at around 4:30 am while other guests stayed even longer.)  Guests kept filtering in during all times but there was plenty food so there was no issue. At one point, a pillow fight between all the younger children broke out! If you think that our Thanksgivings are wild, all I have to say is that they're nothing compared to our New Years!
      But even though we don't necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving in the American sense, there is something to learn from tradition. There does come time when one should take a step back and be grateful for everything. And in that lies the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite even though I've never had one Thanksgiving that's been the same. We either eat different food, sit at a different table, or stay with different people. This year it was at our house. A first I think. We had it with my aunt, uncle and cousin and grandpa and grunkle (great uncle). Family gatherings are always...tense. You see all my family had joined the crazy train where they no longer eat gluten. Or dairy. It is not that they are allergic to those things, they just think they are. It has never been proven. A serious source of contention seeing as how we had to eat tofu stuffing (never again), pumpkin paste instead of pie, and gravy made with some sort of root that my grandpa claims had Hindu healing powers. Not the best food. That ends up not mattering though, and we (I) pretend everything tastes good and my dog gets his full share of my brussels sprouts. What really matters is being with the people I love. Family is pretty great. Like seeing the look on my aunt's face when my uncle said he hitchhiked with the attorney for Hells Angels, or the stories from my cousin's Meeting at his new Quaker boarding school. Do not ask me how that happened. It boils down to the conversations we have and the memories that we make. Orange-flavored yams included.

Thanksgiving Post

My thanksgiving looks sort of what you would expect. There is a kids table, and an adults table. We have a turkey which is usually awful, my aunt apparently likes her turkey extra dry and tasteless. Then our cousins come every other year, they have a 14 year old daughter and a 10 year old autistic son, who always brightens my thanksgiving. One time, he stuck mashed potatoes on his ears and ran around saying "I'm an elf!" and singing christmas songs. I do enjoy the holiday, just because I get to see my family that I don't see unless it's Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter. One of my favorite memories of the holiday is when my cousin's cat, Fifi, jump up on to the counter and started licking all the ham before dinner time. It was hilarious. My aunt started yelling and swatting at Fifi and the whole family was cracking up.

Día de Acción de Gracias

Last night for Thanksgiving dinner we had 19 people over. My mom made turkey, stuffing, and a green been salad with eggs. That was it. The rest of the food came as the invitees arrived. Carolina brought her famous salad, two different kinds of quiche, and some other dish that I don't even know what it's  called (all I know is that it was delicious.) Edna brought rice, arroz con leche and a bocadillo desert. Nadina brought salpicon. Victoria brought a salsa for the turkey, bread and more bread, and some more quiche. And everyone brought wine. Spaniards do love their wine. Then again so do Mexicans, Argentinians and Colombians, but none as much as Spaniards. We had to borrow two tables so that we could seat everyone. And had to borrow even more dishes. The turkey was ready at 3:30 but the first person didn't arrive until half an hour later and the last person not until nearly six. But that's how it always is. It was nearly two in the morning before the last person left. There was music, drinking, and too much food left over. By 10:00, there was a movie playing upstairs, a game of chess downstairs, and a dance party on the PlayStation going on. The younger kids were running around playing spies, using the walkie talkies, yelling that they'd been discovered.
It's weird because we were all Hispanic. None of us had been born here in the States.  In our countries, everyone would be sleeping before going to school in the morning. But we were in the United States of America, a place none of us imagined we would ever be when we were younger, and we were thankful.

Assignment 12 :Flying Turkeys

The stock image Thanksgiving involves a lot of people around a nicely decorated table with a large turkey and a ridiculous amount of extra food. This image doesn't always depict the reality of the holiday though.

What does your Thanksgiving look like? Do you enjoy the holiday? What is your strangest or most wonderful memory of the holiday?

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 25 at 11:59 pm

Satire #11

Poor Mitt Romney. How could he ever have lost that election. He had such an advantage. After all, he was endorsed by Rush Limbaugh. Perhaps the most influential person in America, Limbaugh endorsed Romney almost five months before the actual election. An astonishingly early decision for such a moderate person. Limbaugh's radio show yields millions of loyal followers of all political sects. An intellectual of the highest class, Limbaugh runs his show with incredible ambivalence. His early endorsement of Romney was shocking and expected at the same time. It WAS shocking because of the time at which it occurred. Way back in July, Limbaugh made it clear that he intended to vote for Romney and support him throughout the next six months. The timing was surprising because of the manner in which he seemed to cast aside Obama. A renowned mediator, Limbaugh is well respected for his ability to accurately and politely measure both Republican and Democratic sides of the issues. Although he does typically lean ever so slightly to the right, he is in now way a radical, much like Romney. This is the part of his endorsement which was not surprising to me at all. In fact, Limbaugh fears and fights against the Tea Party members because he feels as though their ignorant radicalism is tearing apart the Republican party. Like me, Limbaugh is very afraid that if the "in-your-face" radicalism continues the conservative stronghold will fail to keep its organization and lose its place in American politics.

Satire

Sports are the most common form of injury in America. What is it that sports can accomplish? They cause heartbreak for those that don't make a team that can then lead to depression, they cause life long injuries, and above all they in no way benefit that of society. Every year millions of dollars are wasted on sporting events, and if we were to eliminate sports the national deficit would surely be cut in half due to the lack of distractions in our nations capital. I believe sports should be outlawed, and instead academics should be encouraged to take their place. What is the good of sports? The answer is none. 

#11

Our world is just FULL of germs. like how gross. I carry my hand sanitizer around with me where ever i go. it is really the best way to get rid of all those nasty things. why would i want to wash my hands after using the restroom when i can just use hand sanitizer instead? yuck. I just do not understand why anyone still uses sinks, hand sanitizer definitely kills way more germs than soap and water does. plus it comes in all these different fragrances, how smart is that! I love how my school has installed hand sanitizers on the walls in like every room and hallway. it makes it even easier for everyone to go without washing their hands. I really think this has made a huge impact on everyone, making illnesses less common. it seriously kills 99.9% of germs. soap doesn't advertise the percent of germs it kills, so hand sanitizer is obviously the better choice. I hope one day they fill our showers with it so we can just bathe in the stuff. That'd be the best idea. no one will get sick ever again!

Monster Mash

I don't understand, do girls think every day is Halloween, I mean girls wear face paint every day. When I walk the halls all the girls I see look like they just came from trick or treating. Their faces and hair are tinted an unnatural color and every feature on their face is exaggerated, they must think every day is Halloween or I don't know what they could be thinking. I guess all these girls think that if they dress for Halloween every day then they will get candy. They do have scary face paint on but their costumes are really awful, they just wear regular shirts and pants. It's as if they all got their costume from the same Halloween store but did their scary unnatural like face paint separately. I feel like I go to a Halloween themed school with all these girls walking around wearing a face that isn't actually theirs. I also get confused I can never tell who is who because they change their face to dress for a continuous Halloween.

Changes (Blog #11)

There is one day of the week that will always have a special place in my heart, Thursday. You see, every other day has at least one positive thing about it: On Mondays, you are refreshed from the weekend even though it is kind of annoying that you're back to work, Tuesdays are an improvement over Mondays simply by virtue of you being used to being back in a work environment now, on Wednesday, one can take solace in the fact that he or she is halfway through the week, Friday is the end of the work week for most people, and Saturday and Sunday are the days that most people have off. As you can see, the general pattern depicts a slight increase in positive attributes to each day, with one exception: Thursday. That is why Thursday is so special to me. It's the one day of the week that manages to somehow be worse than the previous day consistently, quite the accomplishment if I do say so myself. It accomplishes this monumental task through a combination of reminding you that you aren't at Friday yet despite being past Wednesday and being an overall rather plain day. Yes, these two simple attributes are truly what make this day so special to me.

Just get over yourselves already.

I don't care if you were here before me or that you waited for a year for this job, or that you went to college and then grad school and have 12 degrees that qualify you for this job, but I deserve it more than you because I was born a Gatsby.  It doesn't matter to me that you worked on this project for hours and got a B+ on it; I was at the mayor's housewarming party and took my yacht out to impress the girls and didn't have time to finish all of mine, but I deserve an A.  You think this is entitlement? I'll tell you what entitlement is: you believe that since you went to Africa and taught tribes about healthy ways to care for themselves, you deserve to become the next President of the United States.  I don't think so, sister.  I deserve to be the next Prez because my daddy has money.  I don't care that there are children dying of thirst or of health problems because their water is filthy; I refuse to drink tap water because I'm better than that and my special stomach can't handle all the minerals in it.  Mom, you can't take away my brand new Hummer!  I need it to keep my social standing with all the other kids whose parents live in Beverly Hills!

Its the new "new"

Although the iPhone 5 was just released a couple months ago, I would like to announce the release of the NEW iPhone 6! Major improvements have been made such as 15 minute longer battery life, as well as a third camera added to the inside of the phone so you can observe the mechanics of the phone. Countless other large improvements such as these are also included. A new charging input has been installed as well, this way all of your previous phone accessories are completely useless and you are required to a new model of everything. But don't worry, we will include a 5% discount on all accessories with the purchase of your new phone. I can garauntee that the purchase of this phone will be the most life changing decision you have ever made! Of course, that is until the release of the newer iPhone 7 which will be released a week from tomorrow.

Kentucky Folk

What's with those Kentucky people? They're so crazy. I mean like, they all ride horses to get to school and basically have no teeth. They are SUCH hillbillies, and they don't even wear shoes; they walk around barefooted everywhere they go... Yuck. None of their IQ's go above 7, so they're like pretty much stupid. I mean my IQ is like, 8 or 9, so I'm way smarter than that whole state! And on top of all of that, they marry their own family, like their own brothers and sisters and cousins. I heard that everybody's parents are cousins. That's like, so disgusting. They should go out and become more civilized like the rest of the country. Knowing all of this about Kentucky makes me uber glad I'm from California. We have like, a lot more class.
I've never actually been to Kentucky (ew), I just learned this information from like, Urban Dictionary, one of the most trusted websites, like ever.

Abortion Satire

It seems for young teens that get pregnant these days there are a limited amount of options. They can decide to keep their child which has proven to be detrimental to the future of the parent as they attempt to go through school and still be a part of their child's life as much as possible. Or, they can have an abortion. This has been proven to be detrimental to the reputations of the parents, but at least they escape an even worse future with a kid. Right? That is the million dollar question that most of these teens cannot seem to answer. However, the solution is simple. Just have the kid, then give it a few years to prove itself. And if you find you kinda like the little bastard, keep him. But, if you see a lot of failure in your future because some kid is holding you back, just drop him off at the local abortion clinic and dispose of it like you should have years ago. Whats the difference? You still might have to bear the bad reputation that comes from abortion, but at least you can sleep easy knowing you made the right decision for your future, and isn't that the kid of confidence everyone strives for?

[Three Hours Later...]

It took me too long to realize that being like the people around you is the whole point. Being like everyone else makes life much, much easier. I mean, really, you don't have to even think or have an opinion. Everything is already decided for you. Life is handed to you on a platter, all you have to do is go through the motions and enjoy. You don't have to put in any effort whatsoever. Shopping would be a breeze. You would get the skinny jeans and the low cut shirts or the polos and the boots that are in fashion. You would read the books that everyone is reading. Not only that, you could just avoid those terrible moments when you can't decide whether to be happy or sad or confused. You wouldn't have to think about it. There would be no debates over differing ideas- on anything! There wouldn't be any! Can't you just see it now? No fighting, no arguments. We would have world peace. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Life would be much easier if everyone was just the same, everyone thoughts the same way and everyone just agreed with each other.

Speak Right

Last night I went out to eat with my family at Wendy's. It was fine and all, but what really irked me was the cashier didn't speak perfect English. I mean you live in this American country with American people and American jobs, you might think you want to speak the language. I had to repeat myself twice for this man, and I even had to ask in his language if he even knew how to talk. I said "Hablo ingles? Do you speak eeng-lish?" so many times and that ignorant fool just looked at me like I was the idiot. Figures. Sneaking into this country because they are too lazy to take the legal path (it is so much easier to just walk across a river than actually go to a government agency) and then take our jobs and never actually learn to talk right. It's atrocious. This is a Judeo-Christian nation. If English was good enough for the Bible, good enough for Jesus... why do you think it isn't good enough for you.

Learn to talk right kiddo.

Don't Talk to Me About No Basic Human Rights

You see here, I don't know why we've been paying all of this attention to the issue of gay marriage. They keep whining and groaning about how they don't have any rights and such, when that's not true. They have just as many rights as me. I really do think they should just get over their pity party and suck it up. The real world is here, they should try to grow up and live with it. Stop making it all about them.

Cause listen here, I have the same right to marry another man as they do. You don't see me making a fuss about it, trying to change laws just so that they can do what they want and such. They just want things handed to them, like marriage and welfare. Stop whining about what you don't have and work to get to it! "Life is just so hard because I'm gay" you say, well suck it up is what I say! They just want extra rights because they feel entitled. Entitled to what, you say? A life? No, that's not it. No, they feel entitled to special privileges just because they're ~special~ and ~different~.

Stop trying to change the world just because you're "a little different" or "can't marry who you love". It's been like this for years and years. Some whiny little naive brats aren't going to change the world, and well they shouldn't.

I'm not against gay people or anything. I just don't want them entitled to be married or have equal rights under the law. Because I said so.

*Actual argument by one of my family members

Post 11

Ignorance in America is awesome. Why should we read books and be informed on important issues when we have sex scandals? They're so much more interesting, and we don't need to know about world issues, we're in America, they don't affect us. Taxes are stupid too! Why do the citizens have to pay for things that the government need to do for us? You know what, next election I'm voting for whoever cuts taxes the most for me, thats all I care about. Oh my gosh, why are books or newspapers even made? Who cares? Reading takes so much energy and if I need to know something it will be on Inside Edition or the Nation Enquirer. And whoa you're telling me our president is black? When did that happen? I thought his name Barry not Barack! Geez good thing I don't need to know anything and my representative, in an election that I didn't even vote, is making all the decisions for me!

Logic: the Pursuit of My Mother's Intellect

The other day Mother and I were talking. She said "Carson, I want you to rake the leaves."
I said, "can't I use the leaf blower?" "No." "Why not?" "Cause I said so." It went on this way for a while until finally we came to the heart of the matter and the perfect, simple, logical truth: I was unable to stop her because she can do whatever she wanted to me. This seems perfectly reasonable to me, I mean what kind of kid should be allowed to point out flaws in seemingly perfect logic? Silly of me to think that I had some kind of what might be decribed as intelligence wasn't it? In truth she had the most logical and simple plan of all: systematic depreciation of others intellect. Flawless logic I tell you. The kind that works against even the smartest six-year-olds. You know she's sitting over my sholder right now. Even as I write this.

The funny thing is she can't decide if I am being sarcastic. She has such inelegance yet can't decide if she is being outwitted by a 16 year old. 

Satire

Politics are super important in American society. For adults, that is. Adults run for office, adults vote, and adults have the best opinions. It's only natural for adults to be the only ones involved in political issues that affect the entire country. If you're under the age of 18, there's no need for you to have any knowledge about politics. Why would you want to? There are plenty of other, more important things to worry about. Young people need to focus more on their high school relationships and perfecting their social media skills. For a young person to have an opinion on, say, the presidential election is absurd. They can't vote for the leader of the country in which they live, so why care? We need to leave the important decisions and opinions to the more mature citizens who can represent the entire population. With the rapidly advancing technology, we should be able to block minors from learning about anything that has to do with politics. I propose that a microchip should be implanted into the brains of children at birth that will filter out any political ideas and information that they are exposed to until they turn 18. Since this will be developed by adults, it will be the right decision for America.

Barbie Life

I think every little girl should own a Barbie. Not only are they super fun, but Barbies are a good way to give your daughters a respectable role model to look up to and work to be just like. Who wouldn't want to be like a german prostitute? It is exactly what we should strive for. I know you haven't gotten there yet but I encourage putting your efforts into your kids. They need all the help they can get. Manicures and pedicures are a must. So is tanning, a make-up regimen and a rigorous diet and exercise so they get that figure. As they begin to mature, and you see that you failed to give them the curvy gene, plastic surgery is the best option. Our children are becoming too individual. We need to encourage girls, especially younger ones to wear those Hollister and Abercrombie clothes. Now I understand that they might be a little "slutty" but how else are our poor daughters going to find their Ken? This is what our daughters need to strive for, a gorgeous husband, manicured, well behaved children of their own and a McMansion in suburbia. Those hippie types are always encouraging individuality but we all know that there is only one person we need too look up to and make sure our children morph into. The Barbie.

Satire, Post #11

“Fig Newtons are named after a small town in Massachusetts.” This quote from The Big Bang Theory is an example of the important life facts people learn from television. Whether it is learning physics from The Big Bang Theory, brushing up on surgical skills from Grey’s Anatomy, or learning about history and culture from Downton Abbey, television teaches people all they need to know in life, so why go to school to get educated? Everything we need to know sits right there in our living rooms. Who needs to open a textbook anymore? Or read the papers? Just turn to E-News every time you need the latest, most important, hard-hitting breaking news. All people do is talk, talk, talk about how furthering education will help create an even more successful society, but that’s just crazy nonsense. Just pick up the clicker and let the one hundred percent accurate, unscripted, and always fact checked learning begin!

Laziness, the New Productivity

      There's no use in denying it; you're not alone. Why do something when you can just...not? We've all fallen victim to that moment where you find it the most difficult task in the entire world to literally use your muscles and force yourself up off the cushioned protection of the couch. And not only that because afterwards, you're expected to actually lift your legs, one by one, and move them, forward and backwards, just to get to another location. Just writing about such strenuous physical activity leaves me out of breath. Imagine having to go through with it - the horror! The notion is absurd. In a world where technology is so abundant that it can easily replicate any human action, from cooking dinner, to thinking for you, to bathing you, why not take advantage? I certainly see no reason why we shouldn't revel in its magnificence. In fact, besides blinking, which is arduous on its own as it is, the human being should never be forced to engage in any physical movement. Down with bikes! Wheelchairs for all!
      Imagine a place where you no longer have to make excuses for your desire to bum around because it's the norm. Such a vivid picture of this utopian dream brings tears to my eyes. The movie Up really knew what it was talking about. The way things are moving now, it easily foreshadowed where our civilization could be in several years - all of us never having to lift a finger, getting transported by magical floating wheelchairs and so splendidly corpulent that our glorious rolls of skin spill out over the edges of our (freakishly tiny) seats. As they say, a fat pig is a happy pig and aren't pigs, who sleep all day in their own waste, only rising out of the sludge to eat, the happiest of any animals? Soon our nation would be rid of all luxury and individuality - Why worry when there will only be one choice? Less mental exercise is an added bonus to the physical inactivity that would let us live our lives so gayly. Houses would become obsolete - we would all sleep in our floating chairs and simply used them in the daytime as well. Picture it, in a world where we would have to never do anything physical, we would have so much more free time to...to...now what? Maybe the first step is getting a move on those chairs. Yeah, that sounds good! They'll really add a whole new level to this lively vision. But maybe just not right now...I'm not really feeling it...I'm kind of tired...I'll just let someone else take care of it for me while I take a nap. Yeah...that sounds good.

Assignment 11: Changes!

Think of all of the things and ideas that exist in the world.

Which one bothers you the most?

CORRECTION:

Write a satire on this bothering issue.

Sorry for those who have already posted!

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 18th at 11:59 pm

We are at war every day, fighting against the odds to maintain balance and order in our lives.  On a larger scale, that is the mission of governments all around the world - to protect their people now and the people of the future.  Does that mean we're at liberty to kill those with our very same mission: that to protect our loved ones, to maintain ownership over lands?  I don't think it does.  Diplomats need more work.  If governments, as well as other ruling bodies, like the school board, wish to eliminate forceful methods of problem solving in places like schools, then shouldn't they also work to eliminate it from that country as a whole?  Why would it be okay for a nation to show how powerful they are through use of guns and bombs when they advocate counseling and mediation for people of all ages if they have problems they need worked out?  If I say there isn't a time for war, then what use does our military serve?  Hundreds of thousands of men and women would be out of work.  Yet the need for protection is still there.  From what?  From other countries who do not see diplomacy and international communication as the answer.  Instead of using our armed forces as offense, I believe they should only be used for defensive purposes.

What is it Good for? (Blog #10)

Whether there is or is not a time for war, a reason for war, or alternatives to war, it does not matter; war is an inevitability. Personally, I find war to be a complete waste of resources that could be better spent on other problems, and I believe that international issues should only be solved through diplomatic solutions. Unfortunately, we do not live in such an unobtainable utopian world. Instead, much like before even proper language was developed, the group with the most powerful weapons uses those weapons to subdue less fortunate groups. The only more powerful desire apparently is our need to survive This is especially apparent when one looks at the Cold War; sure, not much in the way of actual fighting occurred, but that was only because both countries realized that they would be putting themselves in danger if they did so. To put it bluntly, the only thing that takes precedence over our willingness to fight and dominate others is our need of self-preservation.

Now, I may seem to be over exaggerating our obsession with war just a tiny bit, but I have another reason as to why I believe my opinion to be completely justified. Just take a look at an average popular action movie or video game. Many well-known and popular movies and video games seem to almost celebrate war, glorifying the triumphs and quietly hiding the true hardships. Going off the subject I am much more knowledgeable about, just about any average video game player, hardcore or casual, is familiar with such franchises as the "Call of Duty" franchise or the "Battlefield" franchise; honestly, you could also include the "Medal of Honor" franchise despite its recent drop in popularity. These and other franchises, usually first person shooters, all put the player in position as a soldier, mowing down impossibly high numbers of enemy units. Said franchises also tend to be the highest selling in the medium and have changed people's perception of what the average video game is from the platformer to the first person shooter.

When you get right down to it, though, most video games involve fighting some sort of antagonist in control of a large group, even Mario games. Yes, Mario games may look like cartoons, and yes, you kill enemies by jumping on them- oh wait, yes, no matter the method, you still are killing creatures in those games. This also applies to pretty much any other non-puzzle game franchise. Why is that? It's because most people find fighting and dominating these virtual enemies fun, which us leads back to our primitive desires mentioned in the first paragraph. This need for fighting is simply part of being human, and that is why I think that war is not only inevitable, but humans will never truly rise above our own innate desire for it.


Note: Although I don't think this needs clarifying, no I am not one of those people that think video games are too violent. Movies and TV shows can be just as violent, and while it is true that the viewer is not actually in control of a character's actions, it would be a lie to say that there are not people that try to imitate scenes from movies, especially action scenes. Humans, on a general scale, simply just enjoy violence, and I doubt that this fact will ever change.

War

To begin, I would like to say that my opinion is based solely upon what I have seen and what I know about war. I haven't been personally affected by war like many other individuals have, so I have no idea what it would feel like to have someone you love be constantly away, suffer life-changing injuries, or even have their life taken because of war. I do, however, understand that those who have gone through this may not share my opinion and that I might have a different opinion had I personally experienced the effects of war. That being said, with where the world is now, I believe that war is a necessary evil. It's a necessary response to the major issues that threaten people of different nations, be it terrorism, nuclear weapons, or absurd practices that must be stopped. If there is a large enough threat to the safety of the people of a nation or to the well-being of the world as a whole, extreme actions like war must be taken to protect and preserve the people. I believe that war is "evil" because of the terrible impact it can have on those who physically fight in the war and others who are a part of the disputing nations. I see any mass loss of life as a terrible thing, and it hurts me to know that so many people have died and are still dying while fighting for their country, especially Americans. I would love to see a world in which there is no war. It's probably just because I am generally an optimist, but it's not too hard for me to imagine a world where nations can settle their disputes and dangers can be eliminated without war. I strongly believe that people don't freely want to go to war, but, like I said before, in some cases it is seen as something that is necessary for the safety and protection of a country. If nations didn't accept war as a go-to option and if they made more of an effort to resolve conflicts without violence, I believe that this dream world could come true. Now, I know that there are some situations that absolutely have no other way of being resolved, but I do believe that a less aggressive mindset and more collaboration between some nations could really improve the issue of war in the world today.

Assignment 10: War

I had a hard time figuring out how to respond to this prompt. The first answer that came to mind was that there is never a time for war. War tears families apart. Many are killed during war. And many more are injured; whether physically or psychologically, war has scarred millions all around the world. Not only those who fight in the wars but the people at home who care about them. So many are both directly and indirectly impacted by war. But yet, wars are fought. That has been the fallback to resolve numerous conflicts in history. But why? As much as I wish that in our world we were able to sit down and talk through every conflict, that isn’t always possible. Not only that, sometimes it’s not even an option. Not because we’re all terrible and we all deserve to die but because we’re human. Because we’re humans with strong emotions. Because we’re greedy humans that love what is theirs and want more. Because since the beginning of time, our instinct has been to protect what is ours and fight for what we believe in. This is not to say that I am an advocate for war because if there were other, less violent alternatives to resolve certain conflicts then I believe that there is no use in wars. However, as that is not always the case, I understand that sometimes wars are necessary and are sometimes even in the best interest of society. 

10

In the society we live in now, I guess war is a necessity. If things were different a while back though, war wouldnt be necessary. If people had lived in coexistence before our time everything would be peaceful and there would be no war. But, since we had not learned that, war is necessary. Now, it can show who has power and to put people in line. War dictates what happens in today's society which is a very sad thing to say. War can be a good thing for some people, but terrible for others, it just depends on whose side the person is on.

As for the morals of war, I hate that people have to die in it. Even for example the Nazis, there were men who fought for the Nazis who thought they were fighting for their country, and didn't know of what horrendous events were taking place. In war usually you have to kill innocent people, soldiers who just thought they would protect there country and family, to get to the bad guy. Personally I am against war and detest it, so I think there are really no morals in war, you just do what you're told.

Billy, Don't Be A Hero

War, oh what a topic.
You can discuss this topic for hours and still be stuck in the in between of yes and no.

I, like most people, wish there was a simpler way to solve situations but the flat out truth is there isn't. People can't just conference and compromise to fix problems, some have to fight with weapons to get there point across. So while I may hate drama and be madly in love with peace there is no denying that war is a necessity. No I do not enjoy people dying, towns being bombed or lives forever changed I know that they are doing what they think is best.
Sometimes wars go over board and may be used as a resolution too often but it is a bit goofy to think you can live in a world without war.
I don't enjoy knowing that people die everyday from war but I do know that they died for a reason.

I appreciate and remember all the soldiers that fight and have fought for our country.

War

It is going to be a long time before fighting and physical violence stop around the world, but hopefully as we progress war will become less prominent. Though I would like to think that the time for war has ended, war is a practice that has been going on for ages, and I do not know if it will stop yet. I hope that verbal conflict resolution will be used more in fixing world problems rather than physical conflict resolution. Because in this day and age, when methods of communication are virtually infinite- there is less reason to have war, and more reason to negotiate peacefully. I understand that if someone is fighting physically, verbal interception is not always enough, but as we move forward and our technologies advance, hopefully there will be more alternatives to war. War takes away so much and so many; I am hopeful that peaceful negotiations will dominate in the future.

These Soldiers Don't Fight For Me

Is there a time for war?
Ideally, no. Yet I am not naive enough to believe that if opposing parties just sat down to talk it out, conflict would always be avoided (think Israel and Palestine). I am not naive enough to believe that humanity is inherently good. I am not naive enough to think that this country is the greatest on earth or that it is the defender of international freedom and democracy.

War should only be fought if it is provoked. An attack on this country would merit war against those who had attacked. Thus, September 11th would be justification for a war on those extremist groups who had sought to do us harm. It would not justify the attack on foreign governments, or an entire way of life that extremism is one incredibly small part of. The only other justification for war is when there is widespread international agreement for these actions. War is not a conflict between two countries, it has repercussions over the entire globe. If it is in the will of the international community, and if it seeks to protect an oppressed group, or secure democracy, then it is just. If war is started on the basis of unsubstantiated claims of weapons of mass destruction, or a chance at foreign oil, or any sort of interest rooted in one nation, then it is not just.

The better question to ask would be if any of the wars of this country in the past half century had been justified. The answer is, quite simply, no. This country, despite all its claims to the contrary, has not waged war to protect me.


EDIT:
What I said only more intelligent: http://logsdonapenglish6.blogspot.com/2012/11/consensus.html

#10

When just glancing over the idea of war, it seems like a fine way to take care of a conflict. If you eliminate the enemy or problem, it goes away and everything will be fine, right? But once you start to think more and go deeper into it, war does not seem like the best of plans. It is the head of a country who decides to go to war. Because of their choice, they have made it so that thousands of their people will die. Whether they made that decision to try and help another country or not, I think the people of their country should be priority. There is no reason to go to war unless a country was attacked first and had already tried every other nonviolent way to end it.

Assignment 10: WAR!

I believe that there is definitely a necessary time to go to war. However, there are many instances in which going to war causes much more disaster than what is already being caused (if in the case of a war to relieve a country or group of people). War should always be the last resort, while verbal compromises should be first priority. One instance of a completely necessary war is World War 2. In fact, we should have even declared war earlier than we did. As one of the biggest military powerhouses in the world, the US made a huge impact on the war. Without us, it could have ended in complete genocide of the Jewish people, along with Nazi control over the world. This example shows how the world sometimes needs war in able to keep everyone equal and as safe as possible. I am however in no way a big supporter of war. Generally speaking I stand against wars such as the Iraq War.

Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones, But Words Will Never Hurt Me

War is hard for me to understand, let alone talk about. On one hand I don't think any one should be subject to the horrors of violence that occur during war yet on the other sometimes I think war is necessary. Personally I think war should only be considered when great humanitarian injustices are being committed. When the problem is economical or regarding something in that area I think those issues should be worked out through treaties and compromises. I understand that most people think war is inevitable but I like to believe that humanity is good enough to avoid it at all costs. The time when I think war should be tolerated is when human injustices are being committed. In instances like WWII when the only thing that would deter Hitler from killing millions was military defeat then I can understand war. I do not feel that the U.S. should impose its power on countries without their consent or specific human rights issues supported by other countries. Violence should be avoided at all costs. During the Second World War, Einstein said he didn't know how the Third World War would be fought but he knew the fourth would be fought with sticks and stones. In a world where communication is so easily achieved between countries and cultures war should be resisted and peace talks initiated.

Assignment 9: Halloween

In the case of a zombie attack, I would hope that I am already located in a better place than most people in the movies who are often in a hospital or the mall. If I was at home, I would immediately secure my family and then go out to get supplies including weapons and gas before they all ran out. I would proceed to get my family to Owensboro, where my grandparents live, out in the country. This would be an ideal place to be as not many people lived there in the first place, thus not many zombies. I would plan on staying there indefinitely, making trips into town to acquire supplies and find as many loved ones as possible. I would do whatever it takes to keep my family and I safe. I think I would be valuable after a zombie attack, as I've seen so many zombie movies that I know exactly what to do.

If zombies attacked...

If zombies attacked I would spend whatever time I had gathering up as many weapons as I could get my hands on. I already have a pretty decent amount in my basement, but those are just shotguns, I would want to get a couple of sniper rifles and probably a dozen or so machine guns and maybe two dozens hand guns. Not to mention as many bullets as possible. While I was doing this I would have my mom round up as much water and food as possible and several walkie talkie sets, as well as, a ton of bottles of water. Then I would pack them all into our cars and drive up to Killarney, in Ontario. My family owns three cabins up there and the town is very isolated and has a population of about 500 people. Plus it is on the water, which provides an escape route if necessary.Once there I would quickly unpack everything and set it all up with extreme care. Then I would leave my mom, sister, and brother to man our "home base" as my dad and I returned back to highly populated Toronto in order to gather up as many supplies as we can. I would also do my best to set up communications of some sort with NASA and attempt to land us somewhere on a waiting list to go up into space where we could seek refuge on the moon or in a giant space station of some sort. This is how I would handle the situation if I found out that zombies had attacked.

Yes, But No

There are always going to be things that are worth fighting for, even going to war for. However, even if there are things that we should fight for, that doesn't mean a country should blunder into any conflict for no apparent reason without thinking of it. One must weigh the costs of each, and figure out if the intended result is worth what one must go through to get it. And in the end, I can't really feel just in condoning war. I feel like it is most likely the lesser of two evils, or three or four evils. And I also recognize that as much as I wish we could all just sit down and talk about our differences, force two warring groups to sit down and listen to what the other says, this world is not that perfect, and sometimes we have to take into account human nature. However, when it is a squabble between two other, unrelated nations, I have a hard time, in my mind, righting siding with one or another unless there is a much more obvious loss of human life resulting from one side or the other.

More or less, I have a hard time saying that there is a time for war. Indeed, that last paragraph was quite rambly and I'm sure I went back and forth while writing it. My point in all of this is simply that yes, I suppose that there is a time for war. But that time should not be something that is jumped to quickly, and it must be thought out first before there is any action. One must remember that a war hurts both sides, and sometimes right and wrong get very easily confused within it.

War

War is a hard subject to talk about. It is a terrible, terrible thing. However, in some cases war can be necessary. Civil Wars would be some examples of this. If it is to over-throw a corrupt government or a dictator then it is justified. If a person's rights or freedoms are be taken away by the government then a war should take place. Sometimes the only way to fix the issues in the government is to remove it and replace it with a new government. Sometimes this requires war. This is not to say that wars should happen often. It should take place only under extreme circumstances and if one is not present then alternatives should be looked for and other actions should be taken. In my opinion, war occurs too often and even though it is the only solution sometimes, countries should try to look for alternatives first.

War

There is definitely times for war. Whenever the people's freedoms are being restricted by the government then that has to be fixed. And, most of the time, the only way to fix that is war, because it is neccesary to remove the current government in order to instill a new one that will not be as oppressive. In the case of having no freedom war is the lesser of the two evils because a lot of people would rather die fighting for freedom than live without it, so the killing is collateral damage on the path to a better life for everyone. One time where war is not needed is a religious war. Religion is supposed to promote peace and goodness inthe world but lots of times it leads to violence. A country always has a resposibility to go to war when an ally is at war, because if they didn't it would be a major betrayal and we would lose more allies and lots of respect.

All you need is hate

The short answer is no there is never a time for war. The long answer is no there is no time for war because war is spawned from hate if we would simply sit down and talk out our problems, and stop trying to act as the wars police because in reality we feel insecure, we would have no need for it. I understand that we think we are the best as a nation and that the rest of the world needs protecting but reality if we would make peace instead of war there would e no need for protection. Like I said earlier I don't think there are a wole lot of alternatives other than treaties and peace talks. And there really aren't any times countries have responsibilities to go to war.

War

To me, there is a time for war. This time is when one country messes with a different country in a violent and an uncalled for way. When the country picks the fight, it is time for the war to break out. However, when this time comes, I don't think that is is morally right in every way. I understand why a country defends itself by getting back at the other country, but it is just fighting fire with fire, which doesn't really solve anything. To me, war is the lesser of two evils. The only things gained from war are a sense of pride for one country, a sense of devastation for the other, and an overabundance of lost lives from battle, which is shared by both sides and is equally disturbing. If one of the biggest things gained from war is dead people, then why do we engage in it?
I'm not sure yet what other alternatives we could use instead of war, but one needs to found to prevent the slaughter of people all around the world, over a disagreement.