The new kid on the block!

     Its never easy being the new kid in school. I remember when I first moved to Big Timber I had no friends. Not one person really talked to me for at least the first week. They just looked at me as if I was an alien. They didn't care what my personality was, all they cared about is what I looked like.
     After I finally made a friend, then people started talking to me. After I had friends I felt a lot better in school. I no longer felt alienated from everyone because of what I looked like. And I knew that the friends I have made are because of my hidden self.

China

In 2008 China had held the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. There was a huge controversy over whether they should be able to have them because of the pollution that they have and how crowded it is there. China has a very large amount of people all crowded in a few towns. The government in China has passed a law that says the people are only allowed to have one kid. The government passed this law to help with the over population problem that they are facing. Other than the overpopulation problem and the pollution problem in China i don't really know much about the country. I would hope to later learn a little bit more about it, like the festivals and food that they have.

Mali and the plentimaw fish

Mali and the Plentimaw Fish are like The Three branches of government in our Government. As Mali straightens  the story's the plentimaw fish come and tangle them up. The branches of government act in the same way as Mali and the Plentimaw fish. The legislative branch makes laws, the Executive Branch enforces the laws, and the Judicial branch intepret the laws. The branches have to act according to the other branch.

India

I found it interesting that jenny was writing about the trafficking of women, men, and children into India to be sold and exploited for physical labor, factory labor, working in brick kilns, agriculture, and embroidery factories. I knew a little bit about the trafficking of people but i did not know that Children, specifically, are exchanged between in India to be used as beggars, and forced into terrorist groups.

An interesting fact that Tyrell has informed me on is that in India their life expectancy is very low. Its interesting because the life expectancy is 66.46 years. That is not very old.

 India and Pakistan have been at war for a very long time. India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests the same year. November 2008, terrorists allegedly originating from Pakistan,conducted a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai. I find it interesting that Pakistan waited ten years to attack India.

India

     The Republic of India is roughly 1.27 million square miles. It is about one-third the size of the U.S.
India Varies from Himalayas to flat river valleys to desserts in the west. It has 28 states and 7 union territories. When looking for Natural resources in India you can find coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, chromite, thorium, limestone, barite, titanium ore, diamonds, and crude oil.

     Nearly 1.17 billion people live in India. Only China has a larger population. At only 2.4% of the worlds land, it holds 15% of the worlds population. I0n social society they live in castes, and are separated by religion and language. They have 18 official languages. It is about 81% Hindu but they have 138 million Muslims living in India. India has one of the world's largest Muslim populations. India gained its Independence on August 15, 1957.  They established a constitution on January 26, 1950.

Justice becomes cruelty

     When does Justice become cruelty? This is a very hard question for anyone to answer. The thought that comes to my mind when i think about this question is murder for Justice.
     In the graphic novel "Persepolis" Marjane learns that people who disobey the law ,if a women are raped, and are killed. Since virgins cannot be killed, virgins who disobey the law are married, have their virginity taken, and then are killed.
     In "Things Fall Apart" the British captured Okonkwo and some other people, and held them captive. Okonkwo and the people captured wanted to kill them. But the rest of the Colony did not want to fight them.
    There is an old saying, an eye for an eye, but i don't really like this term. For instance if a drunk driver gets in an accident and accidentally kills the people that were with them. Should the drunk driver be killed because he killed someone? I don't think that its right. So in my personal opinion murder for Justice is when Justice becomes cruelty.

Different viewpoints

It is very important for people to understand at a personal level the very complex situation that is going on in the Middle East. People should really try to look at the situation from all viewpoints in order to really start to understand what is going on. By looking at the situation from all viewpoints we can make better decisions on weather we should bomb them or send troops in to help solve the fighting. If people could start to see things from different viewpoints as well as their own, then there probably would be a lot less wars and killings as there is now.

First impression

From what i have read in the past few days about Iran and the middle east is that they are very devoted to their religion. They pray five times a day, and their government is based on religion. They are also very war based. 

Conflicts

   Achebe has written how the British being in Nigeria has caused the country to be corrupt.  This is an very true statement in my opinion. Because the British came onto the land and said their religion is the correct religion and all should follow it. This caused them to fight back for their own beliefs and customs. Some Nigerians rebel again the change but others others except the change. Because of this, tensions between groups of people that were not their before rose. After the British came, Nigeria was always at war.

Things Fall Apart

In the book "things fall apart" by Chinua Achebe we read about a man named Okonkwo. Okonkwo grew up very different from the other kids. Okonkwo has things in in his life that make his life fall apart. These things that happen to Okonkwo gives the book it's name. Three things that ruin his life are his hate for his father, his anger toward everything and his misfortunes.

Okonkwo's father was a very lazy man. Because okonkwo's father was lazy he did not grow a farm or get titles as most males do. Titles show people in this village that they are men and are worthy to be a man. Because of Okonkwo's father he did not grow up with the same advantages as the other kids did. Okonkwo had to grow a farm from scratch and earn the titles by himself. Okonkwo grew up and decided that he was going to hate everything that his father had loved because he did not want to grow up to be lazy and worthless like his father or to be known or recognized for doing the same things as his father. This hate that Okonkwo had for his Father made him grow up to be angry all the time.

This anger inside of Okonkwo made his life "Fall Apart". The Anger he had ruined his life because he could not love anything. He beat his wife and children, and everyone was afraid of him. In there society they all got along well and helped each other out, but when they fear you the other people tend to not help you out as much. The rage Okonkwo had caused him to loose things that mattered most to him.

The gods were Angry with Okonkwo causing him to loose things. Okonkwo lost many things throughout his life. Okonkwo lost many children all from the same mother. Okonkwo grew fawned of a boy named Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna was a boy that was taken away from his home because of a murder. Ikemefuna was told that he was to live with okonkwo. The gods then tell okonkwo that ikmefuna needed to die. At a funeral of a old warrior Okonkwo's gun blew, and it accidentally killed the dead mans son. Okonkwo needed to be punished for his crime so the village exiled him for seven years.

Throughout the begining of okonkwo's life he had many things to overcome. To overcome these things the gods had to break him down and rebuild him. By taking his children, having a terrible dad, killing things that he loved, and being exiled. That is why the gods made his life "Fall" apart.

Thankgiving

Three to five days ahead of time Robin starts to finalize the guest and menu, to organize what all she needs from the store. She needs to make sure she has everything before she begins baking the goods. For instance we didn't shoot a turkey last year so she went to the store and bought one. she checks her spice cabinet as well to make sure she has the spices needed to make the pie.

A couple of days before. This is the time that she starts baking the pies. The Pumpkin pie, the cherry pie, the strawberry pie, or any others that she bakes. She also cooks the appetizer. She cooks them now so that she doesn't worry bout them later. She also cooks them ahead of time to be able to take her time on the food and make them look nice. she makes meat trays, veggie trays, cheese trays, and deviled eggs.

A day before. At this point, she can begin actually prepare some of the thanksgiving dinner. She makes the cranberry sauce, the stuffing, and the mashed potatoes. AS she prepares the food she takes the turkey out to thaw. Once the potatoes are nice and soft she puts them in the mixer and mixes the potatoes with a little bit of milk, butter, and garlic. As she finishes these she has nothing left to do till tomarrow.

Thanksgiving day. She can now pull out the appetizers and food. She takes the stuffing and stuffs the turkey with it. She then puts the turkey in the oven periodically checking the turkey to inject it with marinade, making the meat nice and tender. She uses the neck of the turkey, milk, flower, and butter to make a very nice gravy. once the turkey is finished she calls everyone to come eat.

How were children raised?

In the the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe each household is enclosed in a designated area with one wife. Each wife lives in a hut with her children, and the husband visits each wife in turn. Children are often cared for in groups rather than individually. What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of this form of social structure are? Advantages to raising kids in a society like that would be being able to many kids. Disadvantages to raising kids in a society like that would be that the kids would grow up to hate their dad. Like in the story Okonkwo grew up to hate his father.

How did coca cola get its name??

How did coca cola get its name? Coca cola got its name from a special nut called the kola nut. Now the kola nut is a stimulant like a strong tea or coffee, which is served on social occasion. Coca cola was used on social occasions as well. In the story things fall apart by Chinua Achebe he doesn't explain what the kola nut is, he simply gave an example of how it would be used. I think the reason that he chose not to explain what it is used for is because, by reading how the sentence  is worded i think any one can figure it out.