Do or do not drop the bomb?

Posted on 27 December, 2011 by ari

Something I wrote in eighth grade English. The task was to write the arguments for both the scientists who made the atomic bomb, and the military generals who wanted to use it.

The Scientists

The scientists were completely against the use of the atom bomb. They feared what its use could bring about to the world. They knew it was just a stepping stone to building other weapons of mass destruction that could kill even thousands of more people with single blows. They said that its use would also bring about another arms race like the one that started the Great War. However, this time it would be a race of who could build a weapon capable of inflicting the most damage, but also the means to deliver such payloads. They were also opposed to the use of the bomb because they considered, not only the short term consequences, but the long term consequences as well. They knew the magnitude of death, pain and suffering it would cause the victims and their descendants for many generations.


American Military Generals

The commanders were strongly for the use of the atom bomb. The commanders wanted to use the bomb because it was the only realistic alternative to a very costly and timely invasion. As they has learned from all other encounters with the Japanese Imperial Army, the Japanese, no matter soldier or civilian, would fight to the death for their homeland, and would rather kill themselves, than surrender. The commanders felt that an invasion of Japan would make the Normandy D Day landing look like a lark. The Japanese were fanatic nationalists, especially the kamikaze pilots who flew their planes directly into US Navy ships in service for their beloved homeland, hoping to keep it safe from the invading Americans.

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Knight’s Journal entries

Posted on 2 December, 2011 by ari

For this assignment we were to write journal entries, as if we were a knight living in 13th century England.

15th day of September, 1250
Journal, today I have received a squire. I am to teach him everything I know to be a proper soldier, knight, husband and countryman. He is Fredrich, son of Lord Rauls of Stonebridge Castle of England. He happens to be an acquittance of mine. I’ve served alongside his father in some campaigns. His father is a great knight, and I expect nothing less of him, and I will make sure I push him to become just as great.

18th day of November, 1250
The king has began a campaign against the French after their assault on Breaker’s Pass.They killed nearly the whole garrison at the pass but a handful of scouts. Me and my page are preparing to leave for the king’s castle to get ready for war! However, I am first taking him to pray, and teach him a little more of the chivalrous code of Knights. It has been little more then a month, but I can already see, he is becoming great.

6th day of March, 1251
This long, harsh campaign is not yet over. It has been nearly six months and we are still not making much progress. The French have all their land heavily fortified. There is not much sleep, thier have been constant raids by sporadic French militia groups. I have found myself in possession of few captured French slaves, but much blood on my sword. Let this war be done with Godspeed.

17th day of December, 1251
I wonder if this campaign will end, and if it does, will me and Fredrich be there? I have lost more riches than I have gained, I’ve had to repair my armor numerous times, and I am on my third war horse, Huego. My father’s shield has also been broken, and I have not been able to fix it. I will have to wait and hope I survive this campaign so that I may bring it to it’s maker for repair.

17th day of December, 1259
Journal, you do not know my hand, for I am Fredrich, the late sir Wei’s page. He died recently from wounds sustained in the war. I myself am now a knight. I am 30 years of age. I have no living family, I am the last. I have taken my family’s and Sir Wei’s coat of arms, I have also claimed his armor to remember him. May he rest in everlasting peace, Fredrich.

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Supreme Court Decision

Posted on 2 December, 2011 by ari

From what I remember from the assignment, we had to options to choose from, that were either in support of punishing school kids for refusing to say the pledge of allegiance, or not.

As a Supreme Court Justice I choose option 2. I choose option 2 because Justice Harlan Stone is exactly right, “This regulation tried to encourage patriotism and a love of American ideals by denying the very model of freedom for which the United States stood. Stone wondered what could be less supportive of American principles than the practice of forcing ‘these children to express a sentiment which, as they interpret it, they do not entertain, and which violates their deepest religious convictions,’” (Harlan Stone). It is un-American to force people to do something which goes against their religion, as well as violate their 1st Amendment rights. It also violates their 8th Amendment rights, expedition, the possibility of being sent to reformatories for juvenile delinquents, fines for parents of $150 and up to 30 days in jail… Completely excessive punishments for the small ‘crime’. It is extremely hypocritical to make such a situation where, you want people to be more unified, more patriotic, and in doing so, violate the very rights one would have people pledge allegiance to, and also, those that have the right not to, have them abused and tormented. Where’s the unity and patriotism in that? It defeats the whole purpose of what was trying to be achieved.

Written on: December 21, 2010

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The Hamilton and Burr Feud

Posted on 5 November, 2011 by ari

A piece I wrote for History class, on Hamilton and Burr.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were political enemies originally for a very simple reason; Burr was a Democratic-Republican and Hamilton was a Federalist. Hamilton and Burr had quite a few clashes on the political stage, though the first serious incident was in 1791. Burr was running against Philip Schuyler, Hamilton’s father-in-law, for a senate seat, Burr won. Hamilton was outraged because he was still Secretary of State at the time and he would have counted on Schuler to support his policies using his strong influence.

Then, in 1800, adding insult to injury, Burr has acquired a document, “The Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq., President of the United States.,” written by Hamilton. The document was highly critical of John Adams, Hamilton being a Federalist intended it for private circulation. The document was highly embarrassing for Hamilton and it strengthened problems within the Federalist party. Later in the year, when Burr and Thomas Jefferson were running for presidency and tied, Hamilton lobbied Congress to vote in favor of Jefferson because he feared Burr. Although Hamilton’s campaign did little, Jefferson won the presidency.

It was not until the New York governor’s race of 1804 that the feud between the two became violent. Burr had decided to abandon the Republican party and run as an independent. Burr felt that should he win, he would regain power. Hamilton, fearing Burr gaining power again, tried to convince Federalists in New York to not vote for Burr. Even though Hamilton’s efforts did little in the race, Burr lost anyway, to the Republican candidate Morgan Lewis, who was supported by George and DeWitt Clinton, powerful New York Republicans.

In February of 1804, a New York Republican named Dr. Charles D. Cooper attended a Dinner party at which Hamilton spoke, “Forcefully and eloquently against Burr. Cooper later wrote a letter to Philip Schuyler in which he made reference to a particularly “despicable opinion” Hamilton expressed about Burr. The letter was published in a New York newspaper the “Albany Register.” Shortly after, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, hoping it would revive his dwindling political career. Hamilton wished to avoid the duel but politics left him no choice, if he admitted to Burr’s charge, he would lose his honor, should he refuse, the result would be the same. Either way, his political career would end. Finally, the two met at the dueling ground in Weehawken, New Jersey on the morning of July 11, each man fired a shot from a .56 caliber dueling pistol. Burr stood untouched, but Hamilton fell mortally wounded, he died the next day. Instead of reviving Burr’s political career, the duel ended it. Burr was charged with two counts of murder, and after his term as Vice president, his plans to regain power landed him with being charged for treason.

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Tecmuseh, the Last Warrior

Posted on 5 November, 2011 by ari

A piece I wrote for History class on, an obituary for the Indian warrior Tecumseh.

Tecumseh was a warrior of the Shawnee Indian tribe, he was born in 1768 at Old Piqua along the Mad River in Ohio. Tecumseh was born during the night under a shooting stat, a symbol of destined greatness. He was birthed to a mother, Turtle Mother, and his father, Heart Striker.

Among his many successes, as with any great leader, Tecumseh had his shortcomings. During his first military encounter, against Georse Rogers Clark’s soldiers in the Ohio Country, Tecumseh had fled. Tecumseh was so ashamed, he vowed to never flee from a battle again. Eventually, throughout his years, Tecumseh learned to read, which gave him an advantage over most Indians. He also became one of the most trusted leaders of the Shawnee tribe, he was especially admired for his call for violent resistance against White settlers.

Tecumseh had a vision, which was for his people to make a return to the old ways; discard all white influences from their culture and to reclaim their ancestral grounds. Along with his little brother, “The Prophet,” Tecumseh built Prohphetstown. Tecumseh had a plan, which was to unite the Native American tribes to drive the Americans from their land. Tecumseh’s plan was working, until his brother, The Prophet, attempted to assassinate William Henry Harrison, which gave Harrison a reason to destroy Prophetstown. When Prohphetstown was destroyed, the tribes Tecumseh had rallied to his cause lost faith, and Tecumseh’s alliance of tribes was broken. However, Tecumseh still kept up his resistance against the whites as best he could.

Tecumseh eventually died at one of the most important battles of the war; the battle of Thames. A combined force of British and Indian soldiers met the Americans on the battlefield, but the British soldiers fled from the field, leaving the Natives to continue on their own. The Americans defeated the Natives and an American bullet killed Tecumseh.

Tecumseh’s death marked the end of major Indian resistance against America. The Indians though believed some day Tecumseh would return to lead his people once again. Also, Tecumseh didn’t leave without having a lasting effect on America. Tecumseh supposedly put made a curse, which made it so, that every president elected in a year ending with a zero, would die in office.

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Being a Parent

Posted on 5 November, 2011 by ari

A piece I wrote about being a parent, based on the character Atticus from the book To Kill A Mockingbird for English class.

English 10 CP
Fernicola
December 17, 2010

It’s never easy for someone to be a parent, specific a single parent. They are faced with many issues that they must deal with on their own. They must provide an education for their children , instill morales in them, teach them about the world, make most of their decisions for them when they’re still young, ultimately they must care for their children and make sure they’re happy and have the best possibly lives. Every parent hopes for nothing but the best for their kids. However, doing all that isn’t as easy as it may seem, and especially not when one has to do it alone. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus, the father of the narrator Scout, and Jem, is a single parent and do everything expected of a parent while also dealing with many personal life issues.
In the novel, Atticus has a few things which he strongly tries to impress on his children. And, not only does he verbally attempt to do so, he also hopes they will learn from his actions.He hopes that they will never respond to anyone in a physical manner, that they will instead, conduct themselves in a proper fashion, and respond with calmness. “Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him… Miss Stephanie said Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out his handkerchief and wiped his face and let Mr. Ewell call him names,” (Lee, 291). Atticus was practically attacked, and yet he didn’t engage with his aggressor, he just remained calm and passive, something he would want his kids to do if they ever found themselves in a situation. Atticus feels that one should give people a chance to get out whatever they need to, and things will settle down soon enough. Atticus also maintains that one shouldn’t judge others because of the way they do things. People come from all different places, backgrounds, religions, so just because a certain person or people do things one way, doesn’t mean that all other people’s ways are wrong. “You never really understand person until you consider things from his point of view – until climb into his skin and walk around in it,” (Lee, 39).
Atticus was pretty effective in inducing his lessons in his kids. “Atticus said I had learned many things today, and Miss Caroline had learned several things herself. She had learned not to hand something to a Cunningham, for one thing, but if Walter and I had put ourselves into her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part. We could not expect her to learn all Maycomb’s ways in one day, and we could not hold her responsible when she knew no better,” (Lee, 39-40). Scout understands and accept Atticus’ teaching, to not be prejudice orlook down upon others for what they do, right away, because he presented it to her in a way she could understand, and she did. Another of Atticus’ teachings, one which Miss Jean-Louise(Scout) learns throughout the book, was the most important, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. However, Scout doesn’t only learn it from Atticus, the lesson comes from all different sources in the novel. “Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping,” (Lee, 323).
Atticus felt that if he hadn’t done all the things he did, he wouldn’t be able to face his children. He knew that to be able to teach them all he did, he had to live up to a certain standard of morales and ideals. He couldn’t do one thing and next teach his children to do differently. Ultimately, he was successful in instilling all he possibly could into his children. He really made them understand whatever it was he trying to convey whether by what he did, or explaining things to them plainly in ways they could understand. Atticus is a good father to his kids.

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Transume of John Proctor Essay

Posted on 5 November, 2011 by ari

A piece I wrote about the character John Proctor from the book The Crucible for my English class.

English 10CP
Fernicola
October 13, 2010

Why do people act the way they act? In the play, John Proctor is a dynamic character because his actions, ideals, and morales change throughout the play. Proctor’s character changed dramatically from how he was at the beginning of the play, to how he was at the end of the play. You can almost call it a conversion. One of the most significant things in the story for Proctor’s change, was his wife being accused at the with trials. If it wasn’t for the trials, and his wife being accused, John Proctor might have never changed.

John, like many other characters in the story possessed hubris’. One of his main flaws, was that he was an adulterer. His having an affair with Abigail proved to leave a large hole of distrust between he and his wife, as well as create problems with Abigail. “Woman. I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (Miller, 54). Another of John’s problems also comes when he is talking to his wife, “I know I cannot keep it. I say I will think on it!” (Miller, 53). John is hesitant to go to the court with the information he has, which is, that Abigail and all the girls are lying. They all bare false witness to seeing witch craft, and they accuse those that they don’t like. In the story though, John harshly judges the others who believe in witchcraft. He believes there are no witches around, and that all the people are a bunch of fools to believe the word of a group of stupid young girls. However, even so, John views himself as a fraud, not being totally honest with himself or others about things he’s done…

John’s admitting to having an affair with Abigail was a step into his character change. “Elizabeth, I have confessed it!” (Miller, 113). He was finally letting out something that had been troubling him for so long, and making him feel ashamed of himself. By telling it, it’s like he had taken a load off himself. A key to his conversion though, was Elizabeth’s accusal and arrest at the trials. Proctor knew it was his fault she had been accused, because he refused to be with Abigail again, so to take revenge on him, and to try and get back with him, she hoped to kill Elizabeth. Proctor felt terrible for knowing his wife was taking the fall because of his mistakes. He found that most of his mistakes did not hurt him, but rather those around him. Those that he loved.

At the end of the story, we see the most evidence of John Proctor’s change. “I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint” (Miller, 138), starting with John show of his humility. Humility not just in front of Danforth, or Hathorne, but humility to himself and in the eyes of G-d. John refuses to judge the others who were accused, realizing, it wasn’t his place to do so. He had come to the realization in his mind that, only G-d can truly judge us, and for anyone else to do so was wrong. And finally, we see that John sees good in himself, after thinking badly of himself the whole play. He realizes, that even just by refusing to tell the judges what they wanted to hear, and rat out others, he was being a good person. “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it. (Miller, 141).

Although John Proctor viewed himself as a bad person, most people thought differently. Most people, even though he did not share all their views and ideals, saw John as a good person. And it’s unfortunate John did not see it within himself like they did, until the end of the story, before his death. Though, as his wife said, “He have his goodness now. G-d forbid I take it from him!” (Miller, 145).

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Mercenaries 2

Posted on 17 October, 2011 by ari

You know, I have been wanting to get this game for a really long time, and just the other day, my friend had his car, I didn’t have anything to do, so I decided, heck, let me finally go get this game! We drove to the mall, and went directly to gamestop. I was half expecting not to find it, being that, when I have went previous times to go get this games, It was never on the shelves, and I used to be too shy to ask for it. Though, I went, found it, bought it, also got myself a gamestop power up card, then me and my friend were on our way.

When I got home, of course the first thing I did was try out the game! Much to my disappointment… The game didn’t work. It kept freezing at a certain point. After a few times of the game freezing, having to get up, turn off my PS3, and try again, I realized the freezing had something to do with the “Connecting with EA servers” message on top. Though, I figured that the game was just scratched. So the next day, my friend brought me again to gamestop, I told the the disc did not work, and I got another copy, when I went home later that night, the same thing happened as before. So this time, I did a bit of searching online and found that; the company that made Mercenaries, Pandemic, went out of business, and since the game automatically tries to connect to the Pandemic branch of EA servers, which is no longer existent, the game freezes. I think It’s a bit messed up that this is the case, and the lack of letting people know that Is a problem. Those place that still sell the game should let customers know of this issue, and EA should look into fixing it.

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Happy birthday mom!

Posted on 15 October, 2011 by ari

Now, yesterday was a pretty fun day! It was my mom’s birthday! Our day started off with me, my brother, and my mom being taken out to breakfast by a good family friend, Alfredo. We went to a restaurant called Villa De Colombia, while there, we had a good meal, and I had an especially tasty drink! I’m not sure what’s it’s called, but it’s mango, all blended up with milk, I had two, they were fantastic! Anyway, we also had an interesting conversation, which was made up of talk about the “Occupy Wallstreet” movement, Lawrence Lessig’ conference on the constitutional convention, and the overall state of society. Some interesting breakfast talk, no? Funny enough, we even saw one of my friend’s dad there, his office happened to be a block down the street, and he went there to grab a bite. We even saw one of my mom’s former clients from back when her and my brother resided in Englewood. It was a nice little hour breakfast, which was followed by a small trip to Trader Joe’s, where my mom had went in to get orange juice,(after I had expressed my liking of only Trader Joe’s orange juice, as opposed to any other kind) me and my brother stayed in the car. After a couple minutes, my brother went in to the store, I assumed he was going to just go be with my mom, but he came out, only about twenty seconds before my mom did, with roses! He told me to hide them quick, which I did, then my mom came out and we headed home.

That was not the end to our day, however, we had lunch to go to at one. I was so full from breakfast, and I even asked my mom if we could push back lunch, but, alas, it wasn’t possible. Just as we were about to leave, my brother snuck up the roses from the car, managed to bring them upstairs, put them in a vase, all without my mother noticing! Once she went down to the car, he put them on her desk too. Once me and my brother were also in the car, Jorge turned to me and asked what I had done with the little card we’d written up for our mom. I told him I had hid it, and he told me, once we came back home, I was to run upstairs, saying I had to use the bathroom, and go put the card under the flowers, so I nodded in understanding. a few minutes later, we arrived at Lotus Cafe, to meet my mom’s friend, Rita. This was the first time I had meant her, she is a very pleasant woman. We spent most of the time talking about our families’ follies with the 4-H Teen Counsel. We also ordered some very tasty food! I couldn’t eat much though, I hadn’t had enough time to digest breakfast, but when the ice cream came,(which was accompanied by a candle, and a happy birthday soundtrack being played in the restaurant) I had no problem having that! Even better, we ended up leaving with a nice amount of leftovers,(in fact, some of which I just had) so I was happy about that!

After leaving lunch with Rita, we came home, and I had planned to have my friend Richard(the one whose dad walked in when we were having breakfast) to come pick me up to take me to Shoprite to buy my mom a cake. My friend Adam came over, while I was constantly calling Richard… He had fallen asleep and I needed him to wake up so he could give me a ride! Eventually, he woke up, picked up, and I found out I made him have twenty-three missed calls. He was a bit annoyed, but he got up, drove over, and took us to Shoprite. We got two cakes, Adam got himself cannolis, and we got peanut M&M’s. We also made a quick stop at gamestop for me. Anyway, we got back home, my mom was sleeping, so we easily his the cake, and after relaxing until about seven, it was time to go to a sukkot dinner with our good family friends, the Prestons. We only made kiddush in the sukka, we couldn’t eat in it because It had been raining a lot. We ate inside, it was a good dinner, with multiple very loud arguments/conversations. After dinner, we moved into the living room, I was there a while, but eventually It got too hot for me, so I went outside and walked around, we ended up leaving around twelve. It was a really good day! My mom said it was the best birthday she’s ever had, I really enjoyed it too, and today we are going to eat the cakes after we get home from Chinese school!

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140 Conference in NY

Posted on 2 August, 2011 by ari

I’m here at the 140 conference… It’s really interesting so far. The topic is education, the speakers are talking about how education should be changed to fit better with the 21st century… Students need and want to be able to use and learn with technology, the way school ares now do not cater truly to students needs; students are not really learning necessarily what they are interested in, and students are certainly not learning things that have real world applications, or that will help them in the real world, we are learning, for the most part things that will only be useful in outdated classroom settings.

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