Friday, March 23, 2012
I'm Building a freakin' house
I get to go to Costa Rica for spring break, like actual Costa Rica. I have been in hoighty- toity resort style Costa Rica. I am going to be in a shantytown making the homes of two houses, sweating in the hot sun. No blogs, just lots of sunscreen and water! DFTBA
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Red Market In India
I always used to read choose your own adventure books, so here is your adventure. You are a living in a small village in India, upon being left by your spouse you have three children to feed and no steady source of income. You read a flyer on a post saying that you can earn money quickly by selling your kidney. So what do you do? If you choose to sell your kidney read A. if you choose to go about another route read B.
A. You pick up the flyer and walk directly to the location listed. Upon arrival you meet with a man in a lab coat, who you assume the man is therefore a doctor. He looks you once over, making sure you're in good health. He says he can offer you 1,500 dollars After his observation you fill out some papers, and schedule an operation for the next week. You arrive on the big day, are put under, and the next thing you know you wake up with a twelve inches of stitches in your abdomen and you are internally lacking a kidney. However, that 1,500 dollars is in your hands so you don't mind so much. Until the next day. The pain is agonizing, and you can't afford more than a few pain relievers. The wound is producing puss, and is slightly infected. The 1,500 dollars is gone at the end of the year, and all that remains is your family, a single kidney, and a twelve inch scar as a reminder of decision.
B. You decide to talk to your friend about work, kids and the usual but are interrupted by a man on the street. This man says he hears your complaints and is looking for workers. You say goodbye to your friend, and follow the man to his office. He shows you into a tattered building, and locks the door behind him. For the rest of your life you are his prisoner. This man runs a prostitution operation and uses you as one of his sexual slaves. You are fed a slice of bread and a single cup of dirty water each day, and this is considered compensation for your work. Never again do you see your family.
This may sound outrageous to some of us, but it is the reality in certain areas of the world. Lack of employment and increasing population in developing countries can force some people to the extremes, or make life changing decisions.
A. You pick up the flyer and walk directly to the location listed. Upon arrival you meet with a man in a lab coat, who you assume the man is therefore a doctor. He looks you once over, making sure you're in good health. He says he can offer you 1,500 dollars After his observation you fill out some papers, and schedule an operation for the next week. You arrive on the big day, are put under, and the next thing you know you wake up with a twelve inches of stitches in your abdomen and you are internally lacking a kidney. However, that 1,500 dollars is in your hands so you don't mind so much. Until the next day. The pain is agonizing, and you can't afford more than a few pain relievers. The wound is producing puss, and is slightly infected. The 1,500 dollars is gone at the end of the year, and all that remains is your family, a single kidney, and a twelve inch scar as a reminder of decision.
B. You decide to talk to your friend about work, kids and the usual but are interrupted by a man on the street. This man says he hears your complaints and is looking for workers. You say goodbye to your friend, and follow the man to his office. He shows you into a tattered building, and locks the door behind him. For the rest of your life you are his prisoner. This man runs a prostitution operation and uses you as one of his sexual slaves. You are fed a slice of bread and a single cup of dirty water each day, and this is considered compensation for your work. Never again do you see your family.
This may sound outrageous to some of us, but it is the reality in certain areas of the world. Lack of employment and increasing population in developing countries can force some people to the extremes, or make life changing decisions.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Game Change- The Movie
If you were alive in 2008, or know at least a little bit about American government, you will know that on November 4th, 2008 Senator Barack Obama was elected president. But what ever happened to "McCain/ Palin", after they lost the election. Well, McCain is still the senator of Arizona, and Sarah Palin delved into a plethora of things from 2008 until now.
Following McCain and her loss, Palin became an idol to some, and a mockery to most. Who can forget the SNL sketches, the slips of the tongue, and her general bewilderment in front of the camera? Nearly nobody. Which is why, when previews of the movie "Game Change" were shown on HBO I decided to watch it. The movie itself has great actors , Palin is played by Juliane Moore, Eddy Harris as McCain and Woody Harelson as Steve Schmidt (the campaign advisor to McCain). The movie is based on the book by the same name. What miffed me about the movie though was that Palin was portrayed as a risky choice, but the only way to keep the conservatives happy. The other choice was a former Democrat turned independent. What confused me the most with this movie though was the portrayal of of Palin. Although I believe former Governor Palin had her quirks, and seemed overall dumbfounded in any news I saw, she was "the it girl" of the republican party. What I remember people worrying about was if McCain was too old, and I guess Palin was the acid that was meant to titrate the base. ( little chemistry reference there for ya' folks). But in any case, Palin didn't push the campaign to a win. What went wrong? Sarah Palin "went rouge". The small town mom turned political puppet was uncomfortable in the spotlight and wasn't in cahoots with all of McCains ideas. I think they lost because Obama had a better campaign and more consise views. But what do you think? As always I love to hear other opinions.
D.F.T.B.A.
the real crews:
- Emma
Following McCain and her loss, Palin became an idol to some, and a mockery to most. Who can forget the SNL sketches, the slips of the tongue, and her general bewilderment in front of the camera? Nearly nobody. Which is why, when previews of the movie "Game Change" were shown on HBO I decided to watch it. The movie itself has great actors , Palin is played by Juliane Moore, Eddy Harris as McCain and Woody Harelson as Steve Schmidt (the campaign advisor to McCain). The movie is based on the book by the same name. What miffed me about the movie though was that Palin was portrayed as a risky choice, but the only way to keep the conservatives happy. The other choice was a former Democrat turned independent. What confused me the most with this movie though was the portrayal of of Palin. Although I believe former Governor Palin had her quirks, and seemed overall dumbfounded in any news I saw, she was "the it girl" of the republican party. What I remember people worrying about was if McCain was too old, and I guess Palin was the acid that was meant to titrate the base. ( little chemistry reference there for ya' folks). But in any case, Palin didn't push the campaign to a win. What went wrong? Sarah Palin "went rouge". The small town mom turned political puppet was uncomfortable in the spotlight and wasn't in cahoots with all of McCains ideas. I think they lost because Obama had a better campaign and more consise views. But what do you think? As always I love to hear other opinions.
D.F.T.B.A.
the real crews:
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday Discussions
So, since the beginning of the year, DHS has been trying to implement social topics and problems into discussions during Wednesday's homeroom. Needless to say, from what I've heard the reaction from students has been less than favorable. My homeroom teacher made it a point of telling us on the first day something along the lines of " Listen, I know you guys are seniors and don't want to do this stuff, and neither do I, so we're not going to. That said, if you want to ask me anything about college or whatever, I can answer that, but otherwise... ya know". So, that was the start and end of homeroom discussions. The common consensus among are homeroom was that homeroom is meant for napping (as seen below), texting, and discussing the rigors of college applications, AP classes, and of course senioritis. So why did the school decide to come up with Wedneday discussions?
Contrary to what most of us students at DHS think there are social issues that happen at DHS as well as other schools in the area. Just this past Tuesday, my teacher was checking her e-mail when she stopped, sighed, and put her face in her hands. She had received an note from the administration at Lake Forest High saying that just a few weeks after a student had jumped in front of a train, another student was found deceased on the tracks. Perhaps LFHS will have a discussion about this (note: it is still not determined whether the case is suicide, or accidental death). Although some may say bullying and suicide don't exist at DHS, this is simply not true.
Contrary to what most of us students at DHS think there are social issues that happen at DHS as well as other schools in the area. Just this past Tuesday, my teacher was checking her e-mail when she stopped, sighed, and put her face in her hands. She had received an note from the administration at Lake Forest High saying that just a few weeks after a student had jumped in front of a train, another student was found deceased on the tracks. Perhaps LFHS will have a discussion about this (note: it is still not determined whether the case is suicide, or accidental death). Although some may say bullying and suicide don't exist at DHS, this is simply not true.
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