at war.

i do think there is a time for war. america, as a world superpower has the responsibility to help other countries less fortunate, and at times this means intervening in conflict thus going to war. but this is not a white and black subject, it is rather very grey and because of this it is almost impossible to come to a conclusion of if it is morally just or not. both sides of the argument, one being that war is morally right and the other side being that it is just the lesser of two evils, could be argued equally and eventually it really all comes down to opinion. many people believe that the war in iraq went to far and that our troops should have been brought home much earlier than they did, and still an equally great number of people believe that if we would have pulled our troops out sooner than we did their country would have collapsed. still, it would be difficult finding a person who does not think our war for independence was morally just, even those who are opposed to war never question the motives or morality of those who fought that war. because of this we must come to the conclusion that at times war is morally just, and at times it is not. there is not one answer to this question.

A Moral War

Today I, like all of my fellow classmates, got the opportunity to hear several U.S. soldiers speak about their experience during deployment. Always being a pacifist at heart, I have never been an advocate for war, even as a final resort. I have never been able to see the appeal of the entire act of war, always believing it to be too violent and unnecessary. Yet today, hearing those soldiers speak of courage and bravery made me rethink my viewpoint. This is not to say I now support war, but I feel as if I at least understand the logic behind it. The soldiers spoke of loyalty to their country. When they retold their stories of personal experience of 9/11, I'm positive the audience could feel the need the soldiers felt  to get involved personally, feeling it was their duty and responsibility as respectful citizens of the United States. Their home had been violated and they had to commit themselves against the injustice. I respect them for taking a stand against something that caused immense harm and damage to our country - their actions will never be forgotten. Yet, I can't help but also remember the horrors that accompany war and the repercussions to our nation because of it. Countless deaths, mounting debt, the list goes on and on. I firmly believe that I will never support the act of war. There must always be an alternative strategy for resolving the issue at hand whilst sparing the consequences that would surely follow if war were to erupt. Circumstances for war all vary yet somehow morality seems to be buried deep whenever anger is allowed to wash over and decide one's actions. Such impetuousness should be forgotten when dealing with issues of this grand of a magnitude and morality should always be the first aspect considered.

BOO (Blog #9)

When I was five years old, I was introduced to a game called "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask." Note: If you for whatever reason find yourself reading my blog posts, you will see this game come up quite a bit considering that, much like a book series or favorite TV show would for a "normal" person, "Majora's Mask" taught me many valuable lessons that I still remember today, such as the value of altruism and how others are just as important, if not more important, than I am.
Anyway, even today, I question if it was really appropriate for my parents to give me one of the darkest games in the "Legend of Zelda" series when I was only five, because, trust me, that game terrified me for three years straight, even if the end result ended up being beneficial to my overall character.

Now, one would expect things such as the ever-descending moon (with a face constantly glaring at Link), Majora, or even the Happy Mask Salesman to have been the cause of this fear, but they were not, oddly enough. The only part of the moon that actually frightened me was the scene in which it destroyed the entire realm of Termina, but other than that, it never bothered me. However, even regular enemies, even weak ones such as Bombchus and Chu Chus, tended to send me running away in fear... for some reason. Then again, perhaps this was because "Majora's Mask" was the first Nintendo game I played that wasn't Pokemon, so I was definitely not used to being attacked by enemies at this time. However, there was one... thing... that was worse than any other enemy in the game, even ones that resembled it.

Before I delve into this deep-rooted fear, I feel as though I need to give a few details about the overall setting. The main town of the game, Clock Town, is divided into four sections: South Clock Town, North Clock Town, West Clock Town, and East Clock Town. In East Clock Town, there is an inn called the Stock Pot Inn; this inn has two floors. The upper floor contains the regular hotel rooms while the bottom floor contains a room where the inn keeper's mother lives, a kitchen, and... the bathroom. Now, this bathroom's toilet is modeled after traditional Japanese squat toilets (as the game was made by a Japanese company), which means that it simply looks like a hole in the ground. This room is where it began.

One day, I was playing around Clock Town after midnight, trying to figure out how to get out of my Deku form (I was five and still could not read, so I was completely lost), and I went into the Stock Pot Inn. I went to the bathroom, and... a gigantic white arm and hand with black nails popped out of the toilet saying, "Pa-Pa-Pa-Paper, please!" Of course, I did not know that he said that since I could not read at the time, but I just wanted to note that this thing did in fact talk. "Hmm, that's weird..." I thought to myself, and I promptly left. However, over time, I started developing a fear of this oddity for some reason that I cannot fully explain myself. I told a friend about it, but I did not know at what time the hand came out of the toilet, simply stating that it was at night.

A couple days later, he was playing it in front of me when he decided to see the hand for himself. Like I said, though, neither of us knew when it came out (for reference, it comes out between 12:00 A.M. and 6 A.M. in the game's time. Each hour takes about forty-five seconds of actual time). He went to the restroom at around 11:40 P.M., and it did not come out, leaving both of us quite confused. He then pressed a button that allowed one to see through Link's eyes (or a first person view), allowing for a better view of things. Right when he did this, the clock struck 12:00 A.M.

The gigantic white hand with its black nails burst forth from the toilet, clawing at our television screen, taking up the entire screen in fact. It truly was a monstrosity. At that point, I completely lost it, and I ran to my dad (who was downstairs at the time) for comfort. Thankfully my friend completed that sidequest for me later on because I honestly do not know if I could face it again... well maybe now I could, but back then I definitely was not able to. As you have seen, though, I haven't quite revealed the name of this abomination, but it does have a name... technically. It is simply referred to as "???" That is its name officially, and it definitely does not at all help my perception of it.

Of course, though, that was just one "Legend of Zelda" game, and while "Oracle of Ages" also featured it, it was only a 2-D sprite, so it wasn't nearly as bad, and while other games in the series had hand based enemies that did scare me, I was sure that I would never see a return of ??? after several games have gone by with not a single sign of it. This remained true until "Skyward Sword" gave me a sidequest that involved giving a letter to either a person Link knew or a ghost in the bathroom that I had not seen yet. Despite every fiber of my being telling me to give it to the person, I let my curiosity get the best of me and decided to give it to the bathroom ghost, and when I went inside the bathroom, I once again came face to hand with ??? and I slowly realized that its legacy will never truly end.

BOO

It was extremely difficult for me to come up with the thing that I am most afraid of. Maybe it's just because I don't have too strong of an imagination for that kind of stuff, but the classic horror movie villains and monsters don't really have an effect on me. Don't get me wrong, I love the movies, but a knife-wielding psycho killer and a demon residing in the house of an innocent family don't get to me like they do for some people. So, I guess I'll resort to the one thing that I know I'm afraid of: Failure. Boring, I know, but I've got a good reason to fear it at the moment. Tomorrow morning, at the lovely hour of 8:00 am, I'm going to take my driving test to try to get my restricted license. I've been eligible to take the test for a few months now, but I've kept putting it off. I'm not even sure why I'm so afraid. My mom tells me that I'm a good driver. I've got the parallel parking and the three-point turn down. I guess I just fear that moment when the administrator gets in my car and I actually have to take the test. I'm afraid that when it gets real, I won't be able to perform my best. I can tell myself that I shouldn't be afraid, and others can tell me that the test isn't bad at all, but I guess that's just the way I am. I stress out about everything. I know it's probably not like what most other people fear, but this is real to me. Wish me luck.

BOO

Zombies are very brutal creatures. That is why it is very important to run and lift everyday in preparation of being attacked. You must be up to the physical challenge. As anyone who knows him also realizes, Ryan Molten is a Zombie expert. He has a whole plan already worked out. I would turn to him for advice and ask to live with him. He is very ready for the event. Dressing like a Zombie would probably also help. If you cant beat them join them! Everyone knows you can't beat a Zombie so join them and I doubt you would be attacked. Wearing large amounts of makeup and ripped clothes everyday would be a small price to pay to avoid getting your brains sucked out. Honestly, Zombies can't be that intelligent so fooling them shouldn't be that hard. Good luck during the attack everyone, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

The Call is Coming From Inside the House

One cold Saturday night in October a girl sits at home. She is cuddled up on the couch watching TV.
Her mother and brother are out at a dinner ceremony at Centre college, which is 45 minutes away. They will be gone until the late evening.

This girl has never been afraid of being home alone, she is all the time what is there to be afraid of?

As she is enjoying a show that started at 9 she decides on grabbing another blanket from her room, it's her favorite and one of the warmest ones ever.

When a commercial break comes on she gets up and walks to the stairs, the jogs up them but stops half way up them. She has stopped because she hears the loudest thud ever coming from her mothers bathroom, which is inside her mothers room. She freezes on the stairs not knowing what to do.

What comes to her mind first is get out of the house now and call you mom. She now sprints down the stairs and out of the house to her direct neighbors. She rings the door bell and her neighbor and his daughter, not knowing what to think come to the door. She frantically explains what happened and knew she would be safe here. Her neighbor immediately grabs his dog and a flash light, they go through her house and search every spot. He comes back with nothing to report but that the house is fine, but he doesn't want her going back until her mother is back.

She calms down with them while playing games and watching TV. She continually feels bad for keeping them but can't imagine stepping back in the house without someone else going to be in there. 

Finally her mother and brother arrive back home and she feels comfortable enough to go back in but since that night she notices every noise she hears at night and is always alert.

She nor her neighbor have figured out what made that noise but ever since that night she is more aware and alert at night.

Being home alone will never be the same for her because is she really alone?

#10

Yes. War is absolutely necessary to the survival of humanity. Sure that seems a bit hypocritical since so many people die during war, but war is a tool which determines who is superior and who is not. You can look at it from an evolutionary perspective if you need a scale. Those who win wars have superior genes which will be passed on and continue to develop. As will the empires and governments who win the wars. It is in this way that humanity grows stronger.

As for the morals of war, well that is a more complicated question in my eyes. Of course mass murder isn't in any way morally correct, but it happens so much that it would appear that the human race has, to some degree, come to terms with war. But this isn't to say that I believe in people just killing other people for money or land or religion in a willy nilly manner. No. I think self defense is a good reason to engage in war. Having said this there is a very fine line between self defense and "probable cause" which I think has been partly exemplified by the United States in the last decade with Iraq and whatnot.

I am afraid of being forgotten.  Not in the sense that no one will remember me in 100 years.  I mean, that scares me too, because no one wants to live pointlessly, but that's not what I'm getting at.  A couple of years ago my youth group went to Kings Island.  On the way back home, I was sitting in the back, and my pastor looked in the rear-view mirror and asked, "WHERE IS CALLIE?  DID WE LEAVE HER THERE?"  Can you guess what happened next?  Yep.  I cried.  There where 10 kids there. Can you blame me?  I guess a better word to phrase this fear would be being left behind.  It makes me think of Lilo and Stitch, with ohana meaning family and family meaning nobody gets left behind.  I'm afraid of any of my families not truly being ohana.  This fear is different from being alone in a strange place.  It's not the strangeness that scares me, or being alone.  It's the reason for why I'm alone in the first place.

Zombies have attacked

As most people know zombies attack in huge groups and are truly tough to exterminate. So, I believe the best way to survive is to avoid any situation where I am pinned against a group of these flesh eating monsters. The way to do this is treat everyday as if it is Halloween. What I mean is to dress up like a zombie with face paint, torn clothes, and anything else I might need. If I am successful in this venture then I should be safe because, as far as I can tell, zombies typically do not attack other zombies, they mainly keep a strict diet of the humans who remain. Step 2 is to find a group of friends to dress up with me and live the rest of my happy life under the disguise. Simple as that.

When Nobody's There....

It was 8 o'clock on a cold, dark Tuesday night. I was home alone with my older brother, Kevin, and I was in my room eating dinner and watching TV. I headed down the stairs to throw my plate away when I heard a door close downstairs followed by footsteps, and I stopped in my tracks. Realizing that my brother was upstairs and we were the only two in the house, I quickly ran back up the stairs and into my brothers room in hysterics. "I just heard something; I think there's somebody downstairs" I quietly shrieked. Kevin, disbelieving me, went to the top of the stairs to listen. When he heard the same noises I had, he promptly grabbed his bo staff (a long pointy stick used by black belts in tae kwon do) and motioned for me to follow him as we locked ourselves into my room and then into the game room off of my room.
While hearing scratching noises at my door and fearing for our lives, we called the police and our parents. Waiting for the police to arrive seemed like the longest wait ever. When they finally arrived, they picked the front door lock and searched the house fully armed and SWAT Team style, releasing us from our hiding spots. But when they were looked around, they didn't find anybody else in our house, and there were no signs of forced entry or any evidence that somebody other than me and my brother were in the house..... We were dumbstruck, as we had both heard the same noises going on down the stairs. And no matter how much we have tried to reason it out, we have yet to this day found an explanation for what had gone on that night.

Zombies Have Attacked….

If zombies attack, I am not entirely sure what I would do, but I am pretty sure I would pull a “Home Alone” and booby-trap my way to survival. Now, I will be honest and say that I do not know much about zombies, but I am going to be working off the idea that they are something like other mythical creatures. First things first, the doors- I would hang garlic wreaths on each one (does that only work for vampires?). Next thing, Kryptonite will be sprinkled on the floor (does that only work for Superman?). And to make sure they are gone for good, I will have a bucket of water with me ready to melt them (does that only work for wicked witches?). This is my zombie survival plan, unless you answered “yes” to any of my previous questions in which case, gosh darn it, I guess the zombies would get me.

Why hello there says the Killer Clown

What scares me the most?
Clowns and dolls.

I've always had a problem with those gross little beady eyes or the giggling and constant feigned happiness, the whole fake, masked attribute to both of them. With dolls, I hate how they are always staring. I don't like when people stare, but a doll never stops staring. It seems like it sees everything, remembers everything, and I know it's hollow and incapable of actually doing anything but I still feel it watching me. I still feel like its creeping up to murder me. With clowns, I feel like the only people who become clowns are the ones with something to hide. There's no other reason you paint a mask onto yourself and spend your time giggling at little kids. It just isn't done. Also John Wayne Gacy didn't help. Another thing that didn't help is when a certain pair of jokers thought it would be funny to trap me in a room of dolls. Lusi and Callie. Not cool... not cool.

Post 9

I was asleep. In my dream there was a loud ringing and knocking. Then I woke up and there was still a loud ringing and knocking. I realized someone was trying to get into the house. There was nothing I could do about it either I was terrified. "lets try to get in through the window" I heard something say... I dashed across the house to the phone and called the police. They said they had someone on the way then the line cut dead.. "Madison Madison" I whispered trying to find my sister.. I thought the thing had gotten in and took her.. But she was in her room trying to save herself instead of being selfless.. I heard something walking upstairs.. Thump Thump Thump then silence... "Madison I think it's alright, it may just be Carli" I said before making her check downstairs. She never came back..

Nowhere to Run

We were coming back from visiting yet another one of our many family members. I was in the car with my uncle, his new wife, my cousin, and my sister. It was already dark and the weather had started to drop. My little sister was making us all laugh, rhyming adjectives that described her. All of a sudden, my uncle stopped the car and we were pushed forward in our seats. There was a loud thud as we saw a man roll over the hood of the car. Not even a few seconds later, three other men were running past our car. There was a traffic jam ahead of us and nowhere to go. My uncle yelled at us to get down on the floor… to hide. We saw the police car lights arrive and I heard my uncle let go a sigh of relief. They, too, hurried past our car. We heard gunshots ahead of us and I felt my cousin jump next to me. I put my arm around her and as I did I saw that there was someone at the window. Someone telling us to be quiet. Someone holding a gun. Someone laughing. I nudged my uncle’s wife to turn around. But when she did, it was too late. He was gone.

boo.

I am scared of many things, but if I had to choose one thing that scares me the most, it would be alligators/crocodiles. when I was three years old, my mom and I went on a "river ride" in an alligator swamp. as a small three year old the alligators were bigger than I was, heck, their mouths alone were bigger than I was. this is where my fear began. although I do not remember this, the story had been told to me multiple times, and I can definitely see its repercussions. my dad lives in Florida, and since I was 5, old enough to be away from my mom for an extended period of time, I have been spending my summers there. naturally I have made some friends, one in particular, Hannah, is my best friend and when I visit my dad I probably spend more time with her and her family than I do with my own. hannah, her sister and I would offer play a game in their neighborhood, kinda like man hunt during the day. hannah and I would ride our bikes around and taylor would essentially try to find us and then chase us, Hannah's room was base. in the pond behind their house lived a crocodile, in the past their had been multiple an only lived in there for a month until animal control or whatever came and got it. at the time, we did not know there was a crocodile in there. so when we were playing and it began to rain, and when it rains the pond raises, VERY quickly. hannah and I were hiding on the pother side of the neighborhood when suddenly taylor found us and started riding towards us. the pond had already risen but we took our chances and started making our way towards Hannah's house treading through the muddy water, dragging our bikes behind us. the water was only to our ankles and we were in the homestretch to Hannah's when we reached the ditch between Hannah's and her neighbors, here the water would come past our waists. hannah and I frantically weighed the decisions when I happen to look to the left and saw the crocodile swimming towards us. we both started crying and ran to the other side. we probably cried for about an hour after that, and that was the last time we played that game.

Irrational Fear

My biggest fear is hardly supernatural (though I am also much too frightened by the supernatural as well) and happens to pop up a bit too much for my liking. You see, I am afraid of heights. Some people might try to be  smart and just say that they're afraid of hitting the ground more so than of the height itself, but I feel my fear is better described as a fear of heights. Now, if my fear was rational then it would make sense to say that it's a fear of hitting the ground; however, there's hardly a rational thought in my fear, hence my preference for "fear of heights". I can't even remember when it started, and one of my earlier memories is of me in Kindergarten staring down the firefighter pole on the playgound, wanting so badly to go down it and prove that I could, but being much to scared to even attempt it. I did, eventually, go down it, but that was after several months of this and with my Kindergarten teacher standing at the bottom, hovering over me as I went down.

It's not just something that happened when I was little. I still get jumpy around heights, and when we drive home to visit my family or to visit my hometown and we must go through the towering Smokies, I look out over the landscape with both fear and awe (I mean, I realize that it's pretty. I'm just hoping my dad doesn't go around a curve just a wee bit too fast.) Within the past few year (I can't remember what year exactly, just that it was over Spring Break) my family and I went on a trip to Red River Gorge. It was terrifying. For someone who both hates walking too much and heights, it was truly the worst. For it became a routine; walk for three quarters of a mile so that I could have a panic attack on the side of a cliff, then walk the three quarters back and then do it all over again somewhere else. I broke into tears and curled into a ball at one, and at another I had to lay down on my back in the middle of the trail while my family scrambled around the peak and walked over the creaky stairs up to one specific peak. My mom still has pictures of me huddled in a ball at one point where I just stopped hiking and let my family go on while I watched them. I played in the dirt and tried not to think about how high I was or where we were.

As one can see, it's really just an irrational fear. While some people can track their fear to one specific part of their life, one instance which started it, I can't for the life of me remember what might have caused it. I have my suspicions that it might have been something my dad did, but other than that I can't really figure it out. Though I doubt that would really help me, in the end.

Wolves

Wolves are the scariest thing in the world.
 Or the world in my head at least. I have many many irrational fears, including but not limited to audience participation during a show, having to use those orange things in the plane that give you oxygen while you are plummeting to a watery death, ect. I could go on and on but the one thing that I am most deeply terrified of is wolves. It goes back to one June night when I was seven. It was hot, too hot to sleep with the covers on (always a bad idea) and after finally finding the coldest spot on my pillow I fell asleep. It was the kind I night where all the windows were open and the mosquitoes buzzed around my head. I had left my dream catcher in the car so I knew it was coming. I was in a car driving to the beach. Our Subaru, which made total sense at the time other than the fact the my old dog was panting behind me and we bought that car after he died. I was sleep so I leaned against the car window and closed my eyes. I was daytime but car trips warranted unending naps and songs. When I opened my eyes I saw a paw. Out of the corner of my eye but I saw it. It had dirt between the claws and coarse grey hair grew in tufts around it. I squeezed my eyes shut and it was gone. I kept napping thinking I had dreamed it. When I opened my eyes again it was slow, just like in the movies when the screen blinks back and forth from black to a blurry reality, but in that moment I saw the worst thing any six year old can see. A wolf to rival all wolves. His head had replaced the paw and his teeth was covered in blood and his tongue hung lazily out of his mouth. And just as he opened his mouth to say something to me I woke up in a cold sweat. For some reason, ever since that night I have been absolutely terrified of wolves. Not the cute ones at the zoo but the ones in the storybooks and pictures. I couldn't read the tale about Red and her Grandmother and I spent every story time in the hall when we listened to Peter and the Wolf during story time. Since then I have grown up and learned to get over childhood insecurities and fears but I have never been able to shake my fear of wolves. I wonder if I ever can?

Assignment 10: What is it good for?

Genocide in Sudan

North Korea testing nuclear weapons

Iran creating nuclear weapons

Terrorism

Injustices and threats surround so many lives in this world. When injustices or threats progress to dangerous and harmful levels though, it seems logical for war to come into play as a way to combat the situation....maybe.

Is there a time for war?

If there is a time, is it morally right and just or is is it the lesser of two evils?

If there isn't a time, why not?

Are there certain times when countries have a responsibility to go to war?

Are there any alternatives? Could they be more effective or less effective?

Due Sunday, November 11th at 11:59 pm

Pressure

It's 7:27 am this Saturday morning and I'm back at Henry Clay. The administrators are just beginning to set up the tables for registration which starts in 15 minutes. See, this is one of my biggest flaws: having the tendency to come early, even to events I find no particular enjoyment in. It's 7:32. Registration in 12 minutes, actual SAT in less than an hour. My palms are beginning to sweat. Standardized testing is not my forte. Actually, it can easily be said its my biggest fear. They tell you to relax and get a good nights sleep but how in the world is that possible knowing that the next day, before sunrise, you will be forced to sit in a room and determine your entire fate. That's just too much pressure. I mean we've all been in the same situation. You find yourself in a room in the early hours of the morning functioning on a restless night of tossing and turning. The teacher, it seems as if, is glaring you down waiting for you to mess up, to ruin your life. The clock mounted ONTHE wall sounds as if it's getting louder and louder with each passing tick...tock...tick...tock.  Oh god, 5 minutes until registration; 50 minutes until the test. Why do I choose to inflict this pain upon myself. I am in no way helping myself by psyching myself out this way. I could even potentially be impeding my score. This was just how I felt last year before the AP World History test except last year the panic got so bad I backed out of the test the morning of. Wimp, I know. But as I've said, standardized tests freak me out- the pressure is too great. Hopefully, this Sapnish Subject Test will go differently and I can finally overcome my fear. It's now 7:45 and time for registration. Time to approach the table and my fate.

Assignment 9: BOO

ZOMBIES HAVE ATTACKED. Detail your survival plan.
(This prompt comes from blog 6. Thank you, Ned Katz and Bram Dutch)

OR

Explain what scares you the most and why.

OR

Describe a moment in which you were fraught with peril. Tell it as a ghost story.

Happy Halloween!

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 4 at 11:59 pm