Luigi's Zone

2007-04-11T20:36:00.000-05:00

Information about planes
When we made our airplanes, we had to make the exact same measurements on each material. Reason being, any little fold out of place, any little scratch, or anything else, affects the flight of the plane. Imagine that you have a plane that is badly folded in its left wing. It wouldn’t fly as well as one with perfect folds. Those are simply aerodynamics. Aerodynamics is the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of air and other gases and with the effects of such motion on bodies in the medium. We made a control which was regular paper. We also made five variables that were silhouette paper, bond paper, newspaper, cartulina, and aluminum foil; each one measured 28x21½. Who came up with the idea of paper planes isn’t clear. Some people have memories reaching way back when, so that shows that even the Wright bros. May have been inspired in paper planes. In the 1930’s, Jack Northrop used paper planes to help in making his ideas for flying wing planes. They also helped to design the Stealth planes (B2 bombers).

Purpose:
We did this project because we always throw paper airplanes without knowing how much it will fly, other times we forget to know the science behind it. We were interested to know which material is better to throw, so we used regular paper, cartulina, bond paper, aluminum foil, silhouette paper, and newspaper to know wich is the material we should use when we want to make a paper airplain and know it will fly a lot; like this we can also know why it flys more time. There is a lot of science behind such a simple thing as a paper airplane and we plan to show you some of it.

Procedure:
1) We researched different types of airplanes and found out which one we were going to use.
2) We decided the measurements we wanted to use.
3) We made the airplanes.
4) We built a hypothesis.
5) We threw each airplane ten times and then we figure out the average.
6) We took notes
7) We made our conclusions
Materials:
- Regular paper
- Cartulina
- Bond paper
- Aluminum foil
- Silhouette paper
- News paper
- Ruler
-Scissors

Conclusion & Resoults
In conclusion, our hypothesys was roung because the bond paper wasent so good althoug paper was really good. We think bond paper dident few well bacause of its wight and its fragility.
Observations & Data
We had various observations in this experiment. For normal paper, we realized that it was the easiest to fold without making ragged folds, because of this the plane flew very well. The aluminum couldn’t be folded without making cuts so it didn’t fly very well. Bond paper was really easy to fold, but because of its low weight, it didnt fly as well as normal paper. Cartulina was a little bit harder to fold than regular paper and it was a little bit heavy, but it still flew really well. Silhouette paper was also easy to fold but it flew kind of bad also be cause of its wight.
Bibliography
Schmidt, Norman. Best Ever Paper Airplanes. New York: Sterling Pub. Co., 1994

“Paper Airplane History” Paper Plane. 6 Apr. 2007

Hypothesis:
We think that the material that will fly the bigger ammount of time is paper because is the easier to fold wit out making ragged folds. We think that Bond Paper will be the second best material, because it is the one that is the most similar to normal paper so it was also easy to fold. The difference was that it was a little bit thinner than normal paper so maybe it wouldn’t fly as well as normal paper because it will bend when it flys.

Jewish Terrorists

2007-03-03T21:10:00.000-05:00

This week I wanted to go in-depth with new terrorist organizations. I wanted to see what other terrorist groups beliefs are, so I got into wikipedia and saw that there was only one jewish terrorist group. It was the only faith listed with one group so I thought that I would talk about that. As my final research post, I thought that this would be a great subject, so here I am.

Actually, the group is a 'double-group'. It, or they, are Kach and Kahane Chai. Originally, Kach was a political party inspired in Israel by Rabbi Meir Kahane. Kahane died and it split into two; Kach, the original, and Kahane Chai, which means 'Kahane lives'. The people that label these groups as terrorists are the United States, Canada, Israel, and the European Union. Kach's first leader was Rabbi Avraham Toledano before Baruch Marzel. Kahane Chai's first leader was none other than Kahane's son himself. Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane was Kahane Chai's first leader. He and his wife were assasinated by palestinians in an ambush during the year 2000. The groups were outlawed in 1994 by anti-terrorist laws that supported Baruch Goldstein's Cave of Patriarchs massacre in which he killed 29 people.

When Kach and Kahane Chai were stopped, the leaders of Kahane Chai started 'The Kahane Movement'. The group has a webpage calles 'The Official Kahane Website'. The United States states that The Kahane Movement (a.k.a. Kach, according to the U.S.) is a terrorist organization, even though they deny the fact.

Later came The New Kach Movement which existed from to 2001 to 2003.

"The organization was headed by Israeli-born student Efraim Hershkovits, who
lived in Montreal, Canada. It had chapters worldwide as well as a youth
movement, Noar Meir. Upon returning to live in Israel in 2003, Hershkovits
disbanded the movement to avoid harassment by the Israeli government, advising
its former members to support the Kahane Movement."

When they got disbanded, they were labeled as terrorists by the United States as another alias for Kach. Efraim Hershkovits was taken into custody by Israeli authorities on August 7, 2005.

The United States labels them as terrorists because of their modus operandi:

Using weapons (firearms, explosives, etc.) to harm civilians or damge public property.
Threatening, attempting, and carrying out plans to assasinate people and public workers.
Requesting for and recruiting members for a terrorist organization.

There are people against the U.S. government saying that Kach and Kahane Chai were never involved in terrorist activities. Several Kahanist attacks include:

August 2005- Eden Natan-Zada killed four and injured 22 people in a bus in Shaf'ram by opening fire.
February 1994- Baruch Goldstein killed 29 and injured a lot more by burning a mosque in Hebron.

The information was displayed very well. I think that it could be better, though. Some parts I didn't understand so much because they were written in a confusing way, but overall it was good.

When I will be working on the documentary with Stefano, we could show other terrorists like The Black Hand and we could do interviews on people about what they think about current day terrorism. I think that the way that we will work with Darren, Randy, Gino, and Farhad will be a good experience, seeing how six people around the globe are working to put together a documentary. It won't be long now.

FARC-EP

2007-02-25T18:16:00.000-05:00

FARC is led by Manuel Marulanda Velez (Tirofijo) and others like Jorge Briceño (Mono Jojoy). In 1982 it added the '-EP' that stands for 'Ejercito del Pueblo' (People's Army). It says that it stands up for the rural people against the wealthy urban. It also opposes the United States' help on Colombia, more specifically Plan Colombia, the private use of natural resources, and paramilitary violence. They plan an armed revolution and use kidnapping and illegal drug trade to make money. They say that they keep open to a negotiation with the government such as swapping jailed and extradited FARC members for kidnapped people. They think that the government is in a very closed environment so that is why they work their ways to achieve their goals. FARC is often labeled as a terrorist group because of its civilian attacks, among other things. FARC often recruits children as soldiers or informants. They have about 5000 members below the age of 18. They can be as young as 12 years old. If children try to escape, they are punished with torture or even death. FARC-EP is made up of several groups:

Squad: the basic unit consisting of 12 combatants.
Guerilla: consists of two squads.
Company (Compañía) : consists of two guerrillas (i.e. approximately 50 men, therefore a lower level of command than a company in most armies).
Column: consists of two or more companies.
Front: consists of more than one column.
Block of Fronts: consists of five or more fronts. There are seven such blocks.
The Central High Command (Estado Mayor Central).

"The FARC believes that since the early 1980s it has met the requirements for the recognition of a "state of belligerence" contained within the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 and additional protocols. Their opponents and the Colombian government claim that the practice of civilian kidnapping for ransom and the tax levied on coca crop buyers makes it an illegitimate army and also point to a wide rejection of the guerrilla policies in national surveys."

FARC has a military academy in which it has a two month training program. The program is mostly based on infantry. The trainees are then tested to measure their skill. The ones who rise above the rest may go on to advance training.

In 2005, FARC began a new modus operandi. They began Plan Resistencia to counter-act the country's attempts to stop them. They retreated deep in to the jungle and halted their larger attacks.

When Pastrana was president, they exchanged 70 politics for about 65 jailed rebels. When Uribe became president, he listened to no negotiations that didn't involve a cease-fire. He instead choose to use rescue missions which proved to be succesful, such as the recent Fernando Araujo rescue. Most relatives of kidnapped people by FARC choose not to use rescue missions to save their relatives because of the time that the governor of Antioquia was killed for prompting a rescue mission. Uribe has chosen to trade about 55 captured rebels for all the political hostages. The proposal does not include the ransom kidnapees. The French and Swiss governments supported the plan that the country would free the rebels and FARC would then release the kidnapees, including Ingrid Betancurt who is supposedly out of the country. On March 25, 2006, FARC released two police officers. A prisoner named Juan Ernesto Guevara died because of a heart disease in the year 2005. He had been captured in 1988.

I think that the information displayed on Wikipedia was very detailed. I didn't use it all because I would have you reading for an hour. The article also goes in-depth with its 'See Also' section, which includes the Nogal accident, for example. I think that my next topic will be about other least known terrorist organizations. The only ones people know about are Al-Qaeda, and in Colombia, FARC-EP and ELN. I want to see Farhad's and Gino's work for this week to see what they are planning for the final TLP documentary.

Al-Qaeda and E.T.A.

2007-02-17T18:18:00.000-05:00

First of all I am going to talk about what I learned about terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ETA. The members of Al-Qaeda are all muslims, or followers of Islam, but they have a lot of different beliefs than those of muslims in other places of the world. They believe that their cause is what is called a Jihad, or a holy war, against enemies of their religion and cause. Al-Qaeda members wish that their attacks will change the way people living in the western part of the world feel about muslims in the middle east. They work the strongest in Arab countries, even though they have other members in countries all over the world.

The current leader of Al-Qaeda is a man called Osama Bin Laden. He was born in the year 1957, he is the 17th son of a family that is very rich, he grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he has more than 50 siblings, and is the man that has begun a Jihad against the "enemies of their religion". He attacks because he thinks that other countries helped the jews during their wars in the middle east. He thinks all americans are against them, or that they are sided with the jews. He is very rich, and has contacts all over the world. Most of his followers would die for their cause. He has attacked the world trade center twice, the first attack being in 1993. He has also placed bomb cars near the United States embassies in Kenya and in Tanzania.

Al-Qaeda's true meaning (of the word) is 'the base'. It began in 1989 after the russian army left Afghanistan. During the 1980's, Arab peoples went to Afghanistan to help the Afghans fight away the russians. They helped them for the mere reason that they were also muslims. The Arabs thought that they were fighting a Jihad. When russia left, the organization stood tall against countries believed to be enemies of Islam. Al-Qaeda has now reached approx. 45 countries. Al Qaeda also has several fronts including Al-Barakaat, Al-Wafa Humanitarian Organization, Benevolence International Foundation, and Global Relief Foundation.

Now, you are probably asking what is Eta. Honestly, I had no idea of that name until I made my research. Eta is a group that wants the Basque country to be an individual group, or separate from part of France and part of Spain. They have attacked several times, by bombings and assasinations. They usually target Spanish officials.

"There are probably about 500 active members."

I think that the information I found is very well detailed and makes its full purpose. Sure, it could have been more detailed, but it is well explained, none the less. I also think that it was very objective, which to me is good, because I like information that doesn't pick sides. It is kind of unfair to do so, but it is hard to be objective with such strong subjects. I think that the people at CBBC did a great job explaining those things.

Next I would like to investigate on the guerilla groups found in Colombia, such as Las Farc or ELN. They constantly kidnap people to accomplish their plans. If some of their members are captured they offer swapping kidnapped people for captured members. I really want to know about those groups a lot, and next week, I think I will.

My Take on Terrorism

2007-02-09T07:56:00.000-05:00

I wanted to say that my TLP project is on terrorism, and I am working with Stefano P. from Mr. Hide's class. I found three articles in BBC Newsround. First of all, I am going to tell you what terrorism is.

"Terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation to achieve political ends."

Terrorists attempt to change the way the government thinks, and their plan is to terrorize people to behave the way they want them to.

There are several ways that terrorists attack. They have attacked with Anthrax, which was used in the United States in the year 2001. The terrorists sent a white powder containing anthrax in the U.S. mail system. Anthrax is formed naturally and it can kill people. Fortunately, only 22 people were infected and of those, only five were killed.

Terrorists also use bombs and car bombs frequently. Only one mere person with a bomb can scare a whole city. The terrorists usually place the bombs where there are lots of people, such as trains, planes, busses, public spaces, and important buildings. The timer triggers the bomb when the bomber has already fled the place. The picture in the top-right corner shows the effects of a bomb hidden in luggage in a plane. When terrorists plant bombs in cars or vans, etc., they are triggered by timer or even remote control.

Cyber terrorists are those that hack and place viruses on servers to overload the servers that store web pages. They usually commit frauds to steal money.

Hijackers usually take control of planes, boats, and busses to take hostages or use the vehicle as a weapon.

Terrorists also use envelopes in which, when opened, the letter explodes.

A mortar bomb is usually fired by a metallic pipe and flies a very short distance. These bombs can trigger with a timer and are cheap to make.

There are also suicide attackers, called kamikazes, that tie bombs to theirselves and walk up to the target to trigger the explosion. Kamikazes also use planes, cars, or other vehicles to crash into other planes or cars containing highly important people, or buildings. Even in wars they crash into other pilots.

Anyway, these are not the only ways terrorists attack. Another bad thing is that there will always be new ideas to attack.

There are several ways to stop terrorism. It is not easy at all, but these are several ways that have been tried. It is very hard, but not impossible to catch a terrorist, even if you know their faces. New volunteers usually take the place of those who are captured or killed. Osama Bin Laden is still top on the United States' FBI's most wanted list. In Afghanistan, the U.S. and Britain attacked the Talibans for letting Al-Qaeda set bases on Afghanistan. This works because it is almost impossible for terrorists to operate without help. To improve security in airports or public places and making civilians be more alert can be another solution. The problem is that their modus operandi changes constantly, so it's hard to be ready for everything.

Our School Uniforms

2007-02-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

In the TLP Wiki, I saw that Amber (Ms. Baber's class) asked if we had school uniforms, and if we did, what did they look like. In Colegio Jorge Washington, we do. There are also special dress-up days, but I'll talk about that later.

The boys have to have white socks, khaki pants, and white shirts. You have to have a belt. The only difference between boys' and girls' is that girls have skirts. In the uniform, you used to have a school symbol in your left sleeve. Now we have it in the top left of the shirt (where the heart is).

There are also special cases in which we should come dressed up in a special way. Dress-day rules:

You must come to school dressed-up as you are required to.
Only bring sandals if it is part of the costume.
If you do not want to come dressed up as you are supposed to, you may come in the school uniform, or blue jeans and the regular school shirt, not P.E. shirt.
If you do not come to the school as told, you will be returned home to change. All classes, quizzes, tests, and/or exams you miss will be counted as unexcused. If you do not come back to school, you will get a suspension.

It sounds harsh, doesn't it. Anyway, lucky for those ones that have no uniforms in school. Well, I think I am finished with talking about the uniforms at Colegio Jorge Washington, or COJOWA for short.

Special Places

2007-01-25T07:38:00.000-05:00

Hi. In the Teen Life Project Wiki I saw Anna (Mr. Fisher’s class) and Daniel B (Mr. Raisdana’s class) wrote: Do you have any special places where you and your friends can go and have fun? I have several places. I live in Cartagena, Colombia. It is next to the sea, so people often go to the beach. One bad thing, though, is that there are always lots of tourists. You see them walking down the streets like a herd of sheep. You recognize them because they often have socks while in sandals, and carry the towel around their necks.

I often go to El Campito to play soccer with my friends. You pay about $90,000 pesos (Colombian currency) and you play for an hour. Sometimes they give us a free hour. I used to play as a defense, but now most of the time I play as a goalkeeper. The person who most of the time organizes those hours is Miguel M. We usually play in the afternoon, although we also play in the night. After that we usually go to Andres S’s house.

We sometimes go to Club Cartagena, another place where we can play soccer. That court is a combined court of soccer/basketball.

When I want to play basketball, I take my basketball and walk a few blocks from my house to a court in front of a church. We call it “La Canchita”. I go and I meet lots of people there, and play with anyone who is playing.

Anyway, those are the places I usually go to. They are really fun places, and I imagine that people also go to places like that in Manitoba, Virginia, and Malaysia.

Funny Zelda Video

2007-01-19T20:25:00.000-05:00

I was bored tonight, so I went on YouTube and found this:

There. I Hope you liked it.

My Thoughts on Issues

2007-01-11T07:45:00.000-05:00

I am Luis Carlos. I go to school at Colegio Jorge Washington and I live in a house in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. I like to play soccer, basketball, and tennis. At recess, I almost always play soccer with my friends. There are three courts. We usually play on the big soccer field. We go to El Campito often to play soccer. Sometimes I play basketball at a court that is three blocks from my house. I usually meet lots of people there and play with them. Sometimes I also invite my neighbor to come to my house to play soccer or Wii. Sometimes I go to his house to play Zelda, also for Wii. I have two siblings, a sister, and a brother. They both live in Bogotá and go to college. My sister studies medicine at Los Andes and my brother studies gastronomy at Lasalle College. There are many issues affecting us actually, such as global warming, poverty, and terrorism. Personally I think that global warming is a special case, being one of those few that are caused by us. Everyday we use objects that harm the atmosphere, causing this effect. When we use cars, the gas and smoke going out of the exhaust goes up to the atmosphere creating a hole. Then the sun’s rays can pass through harming lots of people.

A lot of people are poor in the world. Some people are so greedy, that they take everything from others. Those unlucky ones suffer such problems as; debts, loss of property, and lack of food. A lot of people think that those that are rich are so stock up that it’s no fun to be around them. Those that have less, though, are more nice to others (at least most of them), because they live off materialistic things. One of the terrible things about poverty is that those that have less steal because they have to, to survive. Another horrible fact is that most kidnappings are by poor people. They have no money so they kidnap kids to ask their parents for money. Not always it’s that way, though. In Colombia, the Guerrilla had kidnapped Fernando Araujo. Not for money but to take away his power. The good thing is he managed to escape from them.

Terrorists are terrible people that live to make others suffer. I still remember the day when I came home from school and saw the news. Two planes had crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center. I can’t believe that all those people died that day. Osama Bin Laden is a vile man that has a twisted way of thinking. Right now, he is the FBI’s most wanted.

Anyways, these are three of the world’s issues, to name a few. I’m looking forward to meet students from other schools as we progress through this project.

Fish Will Last For About 50 Years

2006-11-04T20:31:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought about the animals you live on? Some people don't eat animals because they are conscious that they are living on another living being. Well, we humans kill many animals in trying to live better. I think animals deserve something better, like we could eat less animals, or make special areas for them to live freely, without us bothering them. That is exactly what is happenning to fish.

We treat the sea so badly that there won't be enough fish for us to catch by the year 2050. Some scientists have made a report about this issue.

"The report says that we are treating the sea so badly that
there won't be enough fish to catch by 2050.

Scientists say plants and animals in the sea are
closely tied together, so damaging one thing affects the others.

They reckon one way to beat the problem is to set
up special areas where no fishing is allowed.

Fishing is not the only reason sea life is under
threat, and the report says things like pollution also play a role.

The scientists behind the report say it's important
we all act now so the problem doesn't get out of hand."

It's important to help this cause, because it's unfair that we are killing another animal just to eat it. It's unfair because those are not our lives to meddle in. Another reason fish "are going down" is because of pollution. We should clean up Earth, because if we throw garbage in the sea, it is sure to contaminate animals. I have three solutions in mind:

1) Set up specific areas where fishermen can do their job.
2) Only interfere with other aquatic animals if necessary, because if we affect them, it affects fish too.
3) Raise the fines of polluting, because this kills millions of not only fish, but, also, organisms living in the oceans.

I sure hope that we can avoid this danger, because fish are living things too. Please comment to this post and give your ideas. Thank you.

CBBC Newsround- Fish 'to run out in 50 years'

Response to Maple Street's Monsters

2006-11-02T07:21:00.000-05:00

This story sure has a clear message. The message is really important. It tells that our most dangerous enemy is ourselves.

"Understand the procedure now? Just stop few of their machines...throw them into darkness for a few hours and then sit back and watch the pattern. They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find and it's themselves."

The message states that our most dangerous enemy is ourselves, because, sometimes we can't control the pressure of a disaster pushing down on us. We want to find a scapegoat, to drown our worries on it, and blame everything on it. We destroy ourselves because we panic when something bad happens.

"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts... attitudes... prejudices. To be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that... these things cannot be confined to... The Twilight Zone!"

The message says that we should look out for ourselves, for our thoughts, our attitudes, and our responses to situations of suspicions and prejudices.

I think that this message is relevant because I believe it is true. When we seek a scapegoat, we drown in suspicions, blinding the right solution from our eyes. We are looking to point a finger at someone. This message is still relevant to the world today because it can still instruct us on how much we are dangerous to ourselves. We shouldn't fall for suspicions, we should be able to face problems in a positive way. The residents of Maple Street didn't, and look at how they ended up. If you don't want to end up like them, face your problems in a positive way.

If the story was to be updated, I think we should be seeing terrorists instead of aliens, because our major fear now is terrorist attacks. We now know a bit more about aliens. Some people have said to have seen them, and I believe they are correct. I mean, surely the whole universe is not for ourselves, it's just logical that there are more intelligent life forms out there somewhere. The equipment affected by the blackout would be almost the same. Cars, light bulbs, televisions, computers, and motorcycles, to name a few. I think the story could be set in Springfield, because there is one city named Springfield in every single state. There are lots of Maple Streets all over the U.S. so it's almost like saying the same thing. Tommy would be son of a military, warning Tommy to be aware that terrorists had sent a threat message, and he would know that they will attack any moment.

This is the first part of episode 22 of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone

This is the second part of episode 22 of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone

This is the third part of episode 22 of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone

The Great Debt

2006-10-31T22:10:00.000-05:00

Jack ran to his house from School. He was finally out of fifth grade, and summer vacation had just begun. Jack had a lot of light-brown hair, brown eyes, and was somewhat tall. He lived on his home in New York, New York, with his parents, and his cousins, Charlie and Marie. Charlie was 11, tall, and blonde. He had light brown eyes that wore resemblance in Jack's. Marie was a beautiful 15 year old girl, that had long blonde hair. She had green eyes as dazzling as an emerald. Jack's cousins were his best friends in the city. They did everything together, like playing soccer and playing basketball. They were more than cousins. They were brothers.

When he arrived at his house he said, "Mom there's some kind of weird animal in the yard. Where are you going?" Jack asked.

"To eat at a very fancy restaurant." His mother said.

"Are we just staying here?" Jack asked, "What will we eat?"

His father was putting his tie on as he said, "You can order some pizza. Order a large one for you three."

Jack smiled, "Thanks, dad." Jack, with Charlie and Marie, waved goodbye to his parents as a grin that meant mayhem spread across his face. "He, he, he..." He laughed to himself. Jack was disappointed, though, as Marie appeared in front of them with a serious face.

"Here's the deal," She said in a bossy tone, "No running, no climbing, and for the love of god, NO TYING CHARLIE'S HAND TO THE TOILET!" She screamed at that last one. Charlie went red as we remembered.

"How was I supposed to know he would get his foot stuck in the toilet while trying to get out!?" Jack said.

"At least you could have helped him out!" Marie spat.

Jack seemed mad as he said, "I did! I pulled with all my might!"

"No you didn't!" said Marie, "You just flushed the toilet!"

Jack suddenly looked as if his head was about to explode, "Well, I did pull with all my might!" Marie rolled her eyes while Jack left silently. Jack noticed that Charlie was on the computer. "What are you doing?" asked Jack as Marie yelled in the kitchen,

"Oh, my GOD!" Jack went running to her call.

"What the-" said Jack as he saw the mess that was the kitchen, "OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?! There's piles of dirt over there, half-eaten, rotten, and smelly food over there and..." Jack's brown eyes were about to pop out, "Oh my GOD, IS THAT A BROKEN SINK!?!" Marie seemed worried and was holding a broom as she said,

"It's a stupid ferret! It's making a mess out of everything!"

Jack seized a butterfly catching net and swung it around to catch it, "Gotcha! This was the animal I was telling mom about!" he yelled. He grabbed a bag and stuffed it inside. He went outside and released the ferret.He went back to the room and saw that the computer screen read:

"THANKS FOR USING JOHN RIVERS' PC STORE. YOU HAVE SUCCESFULLY PURCHASED A DELL
DIMENSION 9400."

"What did you-" Jack stood transfixed, "How did you-"

Charlie stood up and said, "This computer is old so I bought a new one." he said matter-of-factly.

"CHARLIE!" They inmediately called John Rivers' PC Store to cancel but the line was busy. They ended up calling John Rivers himself. The conversation was somewhat like this:

Hello?
Yes?
Are you John Rivers?
Yes.
Why?
I called to cancel a PC purchase.
Ok. What for?
Wait. Before that, I have a question.
Fire away.
Ok. Here goes. Is Mrs. Walls there?
No.
Is Mr. Walls there?
No.
Are there any walls there?
No.
Well how does your roof hold itself? Hahahahaha.
*Click*
Hello? Hello? Hello!?!

"Ha! That was a good one!" said Jack.

"Well, you forgot something."said Charlie.

"What?" asked Jack. "Gee, I dunno, maybe, CANCELLING THE PURCHASE!" said Charlie, infuriated.

"Sorry." apologized Jack.

Later on... "Well, maybe Marie can pay with her allowance." said Charlie.

"Shush! I'm thinking." Jack grinned evilly, "You know, this isn't my problem. Fix it yourself."

"Please, Jack, Help!" said Charlie, dropping himself to his knees, "I'll do anything!"

Jack couldn't help but force a malicious grin, "Fine."The days passed and nothing happened and Jack couldn't think of a plan. They couldn't bear and tell Jack's parents or Marie 'cause she would tell them. One day Marie and Jack's parents were out shopping and they were free to solve the problem. Later that same day the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."said Jack. He opened the door and was surprised at who it was."John Rivers..." said Jack.

"Yes. I'm here for my money since you haven't bothered to pay."said John.

"Oh, yeah... about that..." said Jack, "We don't have it."

"Fine." said John, "Guys, tie him up. Check the place to see if there are any witnesses." They grabbed Jack and Charlie and tied them to chairs.

"What are you gonna do to us?" asked Charlie.

"Let's see now, I'm thinking of taking you with me and make you work until you pay." said John.

"That's kidnapping!"said Jack.

"You think I don't know that kid?"said John. Things got worse when they opened the car doors and forced them inside. They relieved as they saw John's face pressing tight against the window.

"Holy cow!" said Jack.

They saw the door open and the man standing there said, "Come with me, I work undercover for the F.B.I. I've been after John Rivers for a while. "Now! While the others are thrashing the place!"They saw other police cars arrive and storm inside. They arrested John Rivers and all his men.

Jack felt his mom choking him in a hug, "My baby! Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yes, mom!" said Jack, "Yo, Charlie! What a day, huh?" Charlie nodded. They were happy again, back to their normal life, and they grounded Charlie and Jack for all they did. They were happy, though, that everything went back to normal.

Morals of the story:

Don't let your small-brained cousin alone with a computer and,
Butterfly catching nets are perfect to catch ferrets.

THE END

Flashback to Aberfan: What Happened?

2006-10-28T22:32:00.000-05:00

People affected by the Aberfan coal mining disaster have joined together for a special church service to remember those who died.

40 years ago, a normal morning turned into a nightmare when a coal mine in a village called Aberfan slid over a hillside hitting and utterly destroying a school and 20 houses. 116 children and 28 adults were killed in the accident. The students had just begun class on October 21, 1966, when a landslide, bigger than a house, hit Pantglas Junior School.

Some 3,000 people gathered for a mass funeral for the victims, which was held a week after the disaster
The organisation in charge of the mine said that heavy rainfall had caused the mining waste to slip down the hillside.
An inquiry later found that the organisation - called National Coal Board - was to blame and should pay compensation to the people affected.
The mines have now closed.
Pantglas school was demolished and a memorial garden now stands on the site.

The village in south Wales still remembers this horrible day. The NCB was blaming heavy rainfall when it really was all their fault. Lots of people went to the rescue of those trapped but few survivors were found.

CBBC Newsround-Service to mark Aberfan disaster

This is a video of someone who lived through that time. I feel horrible about howe many people died that day.

Robo-Waiter

2006-10-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

Technology just keeps growing. In China, customers are spending time in a restaurant with a special waiter- A robot! The robot assigns you a table, and you place your order on the robot's mic. It's like a drive through in your seat! People say that in the future, maybe, there may also be robot chefs.

"The man who invented the Robo Waiter 1 said: "People like high-tech gadgets. Since the launch of the robot, the sales of the restaurant have increased by 20 to 30 per cent."

"The waiter is proving very popular with the younger customers, with one diner saying: "My daughter really likes to come to this restaurant because she finds the robot very interesting and is something new to her."

"This is the third time we have eaten in this restaurant and today she has brought her classmate here too."

If you want to see the article click here.

My Worst Holiday

2006-10-14T14:26:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a holiday in which you think nothing will make it worse? I have. There was this one christmas when everything went wrong. It was all boring, uncrowded, and unexciting(1). There was, from my generation, my cousins Eduardo, Hernando, Susana, and Carlos Andres(2) and my brother and sister Guillo and Marce. Yes,(3) it sure was horrible.

I told my mother how I felt, she told me to forget it, but still I was bored(4). My cousin, however, seemed very excited(5). Before he recieved his presents, he was playing a video game(6). Having finished his game, he left the room(7).

When I got my presents I was still bored. I got very few presents. The last one was special. I grabbed it, I unwrapped it, and I opened it(8). It was a small book about ancient civilizations. The presents were bad, I didn't like the food, and I was bored altogether. I hope you don't have to spend such a holiday.

Series of Modifiers.
Series of Objects.
Introductory Yes, No, or Interjection.
Series of Independent Clauses.
Introductory Adverb Clause.
Introductory Prepositional Phrase.
Introductory Participial Phrase.
Series of Phrases.

When My Sister Came

2006-10-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

I really like it when my sister comes to visit. She is very nice to me. She is 19 years old, and she studies medicine in the University of Los Andes in Bogota.

She came to Cartagena on Saturday last week and she just left today. The day after she came, we went to play basketball to the court in Bocagrande. The first few minutes I practiced shots while she talked on her cellphone. After that she practiced shots with me. Then, people started arriving and she left, so I played with them.

We also saw a movie called Silent Hill on her Creative Zen Vision: M the night before she left. The movie wasn't scary but it was fun. That night our parents were out so the only thing we did was watch it. I really miss her. I wish she lived here, and my brother too. I'm going to visit them in November, though. They live in an apartment in a building called Tabasko.

My Problems and Their Solutions

2006-10-05T07:21:00.000-05:00

How do you solve problems? Do you solve them in a calm way? Or do you solve them in an exasperated way? Sometimes I solve problems with a bit of a rage, but, most of the time, I try to be calm. It is a lot better to hear each side of the story before making accusations. Maybe the mistake was yours. If it's not, you shouldn't be too harsh with that person. If that person's sorry, accept his/her apologies.

I have some bad habits when trying to solve a problem. Sometimes I ignore the person. Other times I try to make myself innocent, or even blame that person completely. That is very bad. Try not to do that. If you don't people will like you more. If you do, try to make up for it. Surely they'll forgive you. Sometimes I solve a problem on different ways, depending some things. Under group pressure, you may make the wrong decisions. Try to evade your friends' decisions. make your own, because, you are capable enough of thinking for yourself. Sometimes this happens to me. It is completely different, though, when I have time to meditate. I make less rash decisions, and make better decisions. You are more relaxed when no one is telling you what to do, and if you make the right decision, surely all people involved in the problem will be happier.

One time I got involved in a problem, was when I was in Social Studies of Colombia class and my partner was Sara. We were answering questions and I was telling her what to write when she stopped writing for that question. When we read it aloud, I "made up" what I was saying to Sara, the teacher caught us. I blamed Sara for stopping and said it wasn't my fault. Turns out, though, that the question that she stopped on was question three. We were reading question one aloud. See the mistake? You should hear both sides before you accuse. I accepted my mistake and apologized. She forgave me, but I felt bad. You should analyse the situation before doing something.

An Out of This World Vacation

2006-09-30T19:25:00.000-05:00

Would you like to go on vacation to outer space? I would. It would be so cool to be able to see the world becoming smaller and smaller as you leave its atmosphere. Sure, the launch would be a bit rough, but arriving to the international space station would be so cool! If I were to go to the space station, the first thing I would do, would be to put on a space suit, strap myself up to the station and go out side to feel the null gravity while watching earth and the moon.

Another cool thing would be to float around inside the station to get the hang of null gravity. When I learn to "fly" maybe I would play tag with the others there. Who knows? It would be cool to go there with those cool spacesuits and the moon's glow shimmering in the distance. Maybe there wouldn't be as much touring as on earth but that's a once-in-a-life-time experience and it sure is worth it.

The price though, is just too much. it can cost as much as 100,000 euros. There's already been three men and a woman up there. Some people would just like to "keep their feet on the ground", but for myself, space is the place to be.

Reflections of My Blog

2006-09-29T08:09:00.000-05:00

When I first started this blog I thought it would be simple. Nothing too complex. Turns out, though, that I managed to get the hang of hard things. I never thought I could make such good posts. I thought it would be very hard. In my opinion I have a very good blog. I know how to make sidebar links (normal or image), I can change the colors of things in the template, etc. I am very happy. Some of my friends also have good blogs. My friend Eduardo has a blog about Manchester United. Another of my friends' blogs is Andres'. He also has another blog about FC Barcelona. I have a soccer blog too. Well, going back to my class blog, at the beginning of the year, my blog was quite simple really. Now it's grown very much. Someone from the U.S. visited it. I can't remember if it was from San Jose, CA or San Antonio, TX. I am glad to see that someone from somewhere else checked my blog. I even won Blog of The Week! My blog is going very well as you can see. My blog just didn't live up to my expectations, it's overwhelming how good it is. I'm very happy with it, I hope you like it.

Bionic Arm

2006-09-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

Technology just keeps surprising me. Just look at this picture. This woman was victim in an accident, and her arm has been replaced with a bionic arm that right now is technology's best. There also has been a man who's both arms have been made bionic.

THE ARM'S FEATURES:

The clever limb picks up movements in muscles in her chest which have been connected to nerves that used to link up to her arm.
She can make the arm move just by thinking about it!
It's hoped that eventually the technology will be so good that Miss Mitchell will be able to feel things with her fake limb.

She told reporters in Chicago: "I can move my elbow up and down
and I can open and close my hand simply by thinking that that's what I want to
do."
With her old fake arm, she could only do one thing at a time -
either bend her arm or open her hand.
This new arm can make much more complicated movements.

In my opinion this is a very great advancement in technology that will benefit people that need it. It is also a sign that technology will keep growing to make our lives better. If you want to find more about the subject click here.

A Rotten Experience

2006-09-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, we were getting ready for English class, when we saw that it was a new story day. I was thinking that it was going to be one of those stories that you just wanna sleep through. I guess I was wrong, though. It was a good story. The story was somewhat scary and the ending was perturbing. Almost being eaten alive by rats! I suddenly remembered two things. Both were scary experiences that happened when I least expected them. My house and my grandpa's house are next to each other and they are connected, so, I was going to my grandpa's house and there I saw a rat. I thought that if I tried to scare it, it would go away, so I threw a broomstick at it and it came back at me. I was running around and it was still following me, so I started jumping around and I accidentally stepped on it's tail, and it ran away. I was very scared. The next thing that I remember is; I was opening the door for my maid when she came home and a rat came through the gate! I started jumping around and I stepped on it two times! It went away and I was relieved. Well, I think that's about it. Well, there is another thing. In the story, the ship that is sailing around on it's self is first named The Flying Dutchman. In The Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Davy Jones' ship is called The Flying Dutchman. That is a well known legend all over the seven seas. Anyway, the story wasn't scary, but it kept you reading through it. I really liked how the author came up with this kind of story.

My Birthday

2006-09-15T08:11:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is my birthday! I'm very happy that I'm finally going to be 13. I plan on celebrating it next week because my parents work on saturday for Love & Friendship Day. I'm going to plan a soccer game on El Campito on friday. It's going to be two hours long, and we are going to eat pizza after the game and penalties. I think I'm going to invite all the boys of my grade. I'm sure I will have a really good time.

9/11 Memorial

2006-09-14T07:53:00.000-05:00

This monday is a date to remember. It is the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. I based this post on the "Sept 11 anniversary remembered" article found on CBBC It is very sad about what happened on that cursed day. It is also very shocking how much harm can be done with the influence of one man.

"Four planes were taken over by armed people. Two went into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Others came down in Washington and Pennsylvania.
Four minute-long silences were held where the World Trade Center used to stand, marking the times the planes hit the buildings and when they collapsed.
Nearly 3,000 people died. Memorials are being held across the world."

I still can't beleive that really happened that day. Please feel free to give your opinion on the subject. Thank you, it is an important matter. Innocent lives were lost that day just because of Al Qaeda.

Links

2006-09-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

Here are three of my classmates' blogs that I think are really good.This is Andres' blog. His blog is very cool.

http://andressm.blogspot.com/

This is Miguel's Blog. He is a very good friend of mine.

This is Stefano's blog. He likes soccer.

My Friend's Blog

2006-08-31T07:53:00.000-05:00

My friend is great. He likes Manchester United a lot and his name is Eduardo.

The Era of Technologic Learning

2006-08-24T07:38:00.000-05:00

Some people wanna know about technology's effects on education. Some think that it's best. Others think we should just stick with books. I personally, think that it will improve our learning a lot. For example, instead of looking for a heavy dictionary, you can find what you want with the click of a mouse. You can use functions like autocorrect and autoindent. We can do practice tests or do your homework by just sitting down, clicking and typing away, but there is a downside to this. Sure, it can make my job easier, but it can also make it harder. I may work all day and when I save, it may have a virus and corrupt the file, or when printing I run out of ink, or I run out of paper. It's much faster sure, but it's not completely reliable.