Adultism

Being a kid I have been underestimated many times, and not usually expected to perform better than adults. Like many times in arguments with my parents it doesn’t matter how much logical sense my argument makes, they always win because they “are the adults and I am the Child”. I love talking with adults at parties because they never expect for me to be able to talk maturely about things, but I always have them surprised at the end of the night.

We were in Palm Springs with our good friends from Chicago that have a house there. We stayed there for a week and one night we went to a party for one of the neighbors birthday. It was a party devoid of children so I hovered around my parents until I was enticed by one of my dad’s conversations. He was talking to and older man who had the air of success around him. He asked my some questioned in a condescending tone which I answered in my most serious voice. He was impressed and I learned that he was the retired head lawyer of AT&T that was with the company from the beginning. We talked for the rest of the party and I knew I made an impression. I think that after that night he lost his prejudices that all kids were stupid and he will treat kids with the respect they deserve.

9/11 Blog

September 11, 2001 I was sitting in my Kindergarden grade class room without a care in the world. A menial Kindergarden assignment preoccupied me and the rest of my classmates. All that changed when Ms. Abrams, our guidance councilor, nervously walked over to talk to our teacher. This was the 1st sign that something was wrong, Ms. Abrams rarely visits the class room unless someone was in serious trouble. Shortly after Ms. Abrams' arrival a T.V. set was wheeled into the class room which all the kids quickly gathered around. When the T.V. was turned on we saw the horrifying events unfold over and over which drew gasps from our teachers. That is all I remember of what happened to me on that fateful day.

The attack on the World Trade Center was the spark that set off the fuse, it was the event that triggered a full scale War on Terror. Also ever since the attack airport security has been heightened in almost every country in hopes of preventing anymore attacks form happening. We have been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan for almost 10 years, and we have been trying to find terrorist leaders LIke Osama Bin Laden. Although he has eluded us, we have killed evil dictators like Saddam Hussein. The war is very controversial but it has effectively stopped terrorists from acting on USA soil.

Water Crisis

Millions if not billions of people do not have access to clean drinking water and are forced to drink contaminated water. In California it is estimated that if a different source of water is not found by 2020 there will be a shortage of water that is equivalent to the amount they consume now. Also there is some concern that the Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035. The Himalayan glaciers are the source of Asia's biggest rivers, the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, and others. Even cities in the USA, like Atlanta, are facing water crisis.
One of the ways that people are using to get more drinking water is called desalination. Desalination is the process of taking water (like sea water) and removing salt and other minerals from the water to make it drinkable. This method is good for countries that are next to the sea, but don't have any fresh drinking water. Israel is a leader in the field of water desalination. The Hadera seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in Israel is the biggest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in the entire world. Israel has 3 desalination facilities in operation right now and 2 more on the way.

One way we can help stop conflicts over water is to use methods like desalination to make

more drinking available to more people. In the Middle East lives 5% of the world's population,

but they only have 1% of the world's fresh water. Israel and other countries are thinking of ways

to solve this problem. As mentioned earlier, one way the create more available drinking water is

desalination.

There are many simple ways we as a class can conserve water. We could all bring water

bottles to school instead of drinking water from the fountain, because that wastes water. If you do

drink from the fountain though, make sure to let go of the button when taking breathes in

between drinking the water. Also turning off faucets when you see that it isn't fully turned off, and

also to tell maintenance if you see a leaking faucet, that can save 3000 gallons of water a year.

world today

Iran Nuclear Facilities

Will and Michael

Iran invites several countries from the European Union to see their nuclear facilities, although America, Israel and France were not invited to this. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast claims that the nuclear material is for power and not for bombs. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran freeze uranium enrichment, something that can produce both fuel and material for making warheads. But Iranian negotiators ruled out discussing such demands. Iran invites Russia, China, Egypt, part of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency and Cuba. Russia and especially China still maintain commercial ties with Iran.

"It's a clever ploy, but it's not a substitute for Iran's responsibilities to the (International Atomic Energy Agency) IAEA," Mr. Crowley the U.S State Department spokesman told the New York Times. The facility’s are already subject to inspections by the IAEA. But Iran has invited diplomats, not nuclear scientists or weapons experts. The diplomats are most likely not to be able to answer if Iran is trying to building nuclear weapons.

Iran said that they hope to start the construction of new enrichment facilities around March 2011. All they would have to do to make weapons grade uranium is to just keep enriching the fuel grade uranium.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12109917)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/world/middleeast/05tehran.html?ref=iran

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2040654,00.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/iran_nuclear

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear

Iran has continued to disregard orders by the United Nations to stop their nuclear program. Many people believe Iran wants to create nuclear weapons with the Uranium, but the insist that it is only for peaceful purposes. Being allies with China, Russia, and North Korea makes them a country that is not easy to mess with; also they have many allies in the Middle East. The have the ability to arm themselves with long-range missiles that can allow them to hit target such as Jerusalem and maybe in the future European and State-side targets.

America and Israel are some of the biggest non-supporters of the Iranian nuclear program, and were not invited to the meeting. People are skeptical of this, as a sign that something bad might be going on there that America might not approve of. Without question Iran’s nuclear program is very very controversial.

Maus

1: What were the 5 animals in Maus and what did they Represent?

Cat: Nazi Mouse: Jew Dog: American Pig:Polish Frog: French
2:Why are cats Nazis and Jews mice?
Because cats chase and kill mice.
3: What are 2 Death/ Concentration camps in Maus?

Auschwitz, Dachau
4: Who was Anja?

Vladek's wife and Art's mother.

5: why are the Americans dogs?
Because dogs chase and fight cats.
6: Why is this book important?
because you need to know history so it doesn't repeat itself.

7: When ovens were talked about in the book what did they refer to?

Crematoriums the death camps.

8: How were Jews killed at Auschwitz?

Poisonous gas.

9: Name to jobs that Vladek did at the concentration camps.
Tin smith and shoe fixer.

10: What country save Anja and what country saved Vladek?
Russia and America

The value of hard work is very well portrayed in this book. Vladek, the main character, is an incredibly hard worker. One of the ways he survives the camps is he has a lot of knowledge about many different things. He is able to be useful to the Nazis by knowing how to do many things and working very hard at them. He is able to do any task they require of him, and is treated better because of it.

One of the main themes of the book Maus is how important love is, especially in hard times.  In the book it talks about how when Anja is in Auschwitz-Birkenau she is depressed and in a letter she wrote him said, “I would run into the electric fence if I didn't want to live for you.” Love is a powerful force that can make people live in situations that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to live in.  Another time the book shows the power of love is when Vladek goes on even less food that he already has so he can save up enough to bribe the gaurds into moving his wife, Anja, to closer barrack so that he can see her.

Oppression is shown very well in this book. It shows this very well in one scene in particular. Vladek is walking down the street, and some Polish kids are playing. They see that he is Jewish and immediately start teasing him and calling him names. This shows how oppression isn’t only from adults, but it is continued by the parents teaching the kids to hate and be mean to people different than them.

Bolton: Military strike only way to stop Iran nukes
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

11/30/2010 21:59

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=197422

John Bolton, the ex ambassador to the UN under the Bush administration, is considering running as the GOP presidential candidate. He interviewed with the JP because he is very pro Israel. He believes that military action will probably be necessary in order to stop Iran from attaining Nuclear Weapons, and also disagrees with the 2 state solution. He believes in a 3 state solution, in which Jordan gets the West Bank and Egypt get the Gaza strip. He doesn't believe any of the Palestinian leaders could create a strong and lasting peace.

Cabinet okays NIS 2.2b. to reduce greenhouse gases
By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
11/29/2010 03:40

http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=197143

The Israeli Cabinet approved a NIS (National Israeli Shekel) 2.2 billion  over the next 10 years to reduce green house gas emissions. The plan is all about energy efficiency. This year, the month of November was the driest November in the history of the state. Prime Minister Netanyahu is very concerned about the environment. 

News Bowl

Former Iranian fighter pilot: 'Ahmadinejad incites war'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
11/16/2010 21:53
Lieutenant Bahazad Masawi, a defected Iranian air force pilot who is hiding in Paris, talks about how he believes that the people of Iran don’t hate the Israeli people. He thinks that it is just the Dictator, Ahmadinejad that is the world’s biggest supporter of terrorism, and also a huge threat to both Israel and the world. IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is visiting America and Canada to talk about imposing higher energy and bank sanctions on Iran in hope of stopping their uranium enrichment program. He is also going to talk to America about their decision to sell 84 F-15 fighter jets and JDAM smart bombs to Saudi Arabia, Ashkenazi is primarily concerned with America selling Saudi Arabia the JDAM smart bombs.

Israeli high tech adjusts to Asian challenge
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
11/16/2010 19:35
For being a country of only 7.6 million Israel has been very impressive in the field of technology. It has the most technology-focused Nasdaq companies besides North America, and has been a hot spot for scientific innovation. But now people are worried that Asian giants like China and India will start to compete with Israel because each of those countries’ populations surpass 1 billion people. “At some point, quantity becomes quality," says Zeev Holtzman, chairman of Giza Venture Capital in Tel Aviv. Israel is expected to make 500 million this year from the Technology market, double last year, and is still a big player in the technology market.