Find the Clues

The article, Police: FBI informant arrested in attack on house, by Denver Post, I was perplexed at what was not said in this article about a man seeking out an enemy gang. The article was clearly very knew, but it caught my eye. I want to know why they used a gang member in this FBI case to stop drug trafficking. But how did the police come across this man, and why did they give him a gun? Or was he not supposed to have a gun? And what made him feel the need to use the gun? Sometimes, people do the wrong things for the wrong reasons. This article caught my eye because it happened here in Colorado. I also noticed that this man who shot the gun was a potential member of a gang. I think that this man only wanted to help police for revenge. Maybe the gang he was told to record/monitor was a threat to his gang, so he used this opportunity to seek revenge! But this makes me think. Who knew there were gangs in Colorado? And why did this man need to seek revenge in the first place, if that is the case. Or who knew there was this much violence? I knew gangs were bad, but I didn't know they just randomly carried guns around in public. I also wonder how many other cases of drug trafficking there is in CO. Also, do gangs carry authorized weapons? I doubt they are legal. I connected this article to a thought I had about a Criminal Minds one time. They both involved gangs, and I realize this show is a crime drama, but it scares me how real gangs are in a part of our society now a days. I think about what could happen every day, and how paranoid someone could be about murders via gangs. I wish things with gangs would stop. They are a bad cause to the society, and a solution could be to make it illegal.

How much knowledge, is too much?

As I read the article, Rigor Redefined, by Tony Wagner, I got a few question stirred up in my head. I was thinking about how much people really expect out of the next generation. How much is really, too much? Will knowledge ever stop growing? Can one person know everything on earth? But also, how do you practice communication? Is it just a skill you develop? I noticed one of the men Wagner was talking to said this was a job qualification, and I really wonder how that can happen when so many people are shy, or have different ways of speaking. I also couldn't help but think about Social Darwinism whilst reading this. You have to compete for the best job, best pay, etc. Its the "survival of the most knowledgeable". In another piece of the article, Wagner mentioned that "yesterday's answers won't solve today's problems". That made me think of how much technology had grown, and how much it could grow by tomorrow. And I wonder if it will ever stop? Its a big world out there, and its just getting bigger.

This article made me wonder what I can do as a human to prepare myself for the future. What should I learn to make it big in the ever-expanding world? Wagner stated that you have to have the ability to influence people. I can influence people. Now, that being, it may only be because I am a child, but i can provide points that can change a person's mind. Now, that doesn't stop people's opinions, it just gives them a new view on certain things. This also made me consider the impact I want to leave on the growing world. In twenty-five years, will I be the next one to arrest the world's most wanted criminal? Or will I be making the next best fashion? Life is a long and winding road, and the generation has so much to learn, and so much to teach.

Zazi's get and extra X?

I've been Reading about someone named Zazi, and Afghan man who was accused of being a possible terrorist, and he is an immigrant. In the article, "Zazi's Father Indicted in NYC Terror Plot" His son is being held in New York for an account of conspiring to set off bombs in hotels. How he would do this? I don't understand. I really want to know why these people think they can come over here and just do whatever they want. Why are they targeting us? Is it truly because of their war involving us? Are we targets of some more major events to come? This lead me to connect another story about the Zazi men. In this article, "Feds issue national terror alert on hotels, stadiums as Zazi investigation heats up". Both talk about These men, and the theory that they have the power to set off bombs in hotels all across the nation. One of the bomb plots was set for Denver possibly. HERE!! This made me jump because what if I decided to stay at a random hotel and the plan worked?! What an awful plan! How could you stand to possibly kill tens, hundreds, even thousands of people! What makes these people feel the need to? Is it their nationalism? Do they have such a strong feeling of pride for their country that they have to come and turn into terrorists? All of these questions need to be answered for the knowledge of the future of the war and USA.

I heard a theory that the killing chromosome is an extra X chromosome in men. Now only they can have it because otherwise it would offset the balance of the female chromosome, making it XXX. But in men, it would be XYX. But anyways, the extra X was said to posses the will to kill, whoever, whenever. Now I'm aware that this is a myth, but what if these men actually had this chromosome? Do they really have the will to kill? Why don't we? Another question that scares the living daylights out of me: Will we grow to gain this faulty chromosome in the future? Could we turn into killing machines? I just wonder if the Zazi's could have this. Maybe its not a myth after all.

Who would have thought??

WOW!! I never ever would have guessed that a high speed chase would happen here in Colorado! In the article, "Longmont man held after high-speed chase" by The Denver Post, a man attempted to out-run the police. It was at 4:00 in the morning also! I was just wondering, how pschycotic do you have to be to think you can get away from the police, especially at 4 in the morning? I also want to know what this man did you have to be chased down by the police? How serious were his offences? I was just thinking along the lines of maybe drunk driving, but then I saw that he was previously arrested for drunken driving and damaging a car. Also, this man is 28 years old! Why at this age did he need to run away from the police? Did he not do well in school? Was it just because he felt the need to do bad things and be a bad person? I also wondered to myself, what would have happened if he didn't do it where he did and when he did. What id it were at 6 o' clock at night and he were down here in our district? How many people would have gotten hurt due to this man's thinking? I also started thinking about why people do what they do. Are people really just compelled to do what they do? Can you really consider doing something different, if you think about memories, and other things you have done? I personally think that you make your own future. But the way you are raised can have something to do with your lack of self-control, also. If you are taught to handle trouble in a violent way, what does that mean for the youngsters in your life? Does that mean they could end up convicts, trying to escape from the police? Or will you grow up and realize that their ways were wrong, and that you can be better than that?

I think about how I am affected by this. Does how I was raised change who I am, who I could be? I want to be an FBI agent. Will I really be one? I'm pretty convinced that if I keep going the way I'm going, I really can do it. One day, I will grow up and I will be one stopping those who choose wrong, and I'll bringing them to justice. But if I have anything to say about it, I won't have to do anything to terribly bad, and I'll be saving the innosent. It really all leads up to your decisions in life. You make your own future, even if that means running away from the police.

Do the Do, Not the Don't!

I read Will Richardson's blog, "Don't, don't, don't vs. do" and I found it interesting that he blogged about what schools put in their code of conduct packet. It's funny how they have to tell their students, at an unidentified school, that they cannot "Download games" or "go to shopping websites" while we have the system that automatically blocks the usage of "personal needs". But why do we have that in our district, and they don't? Is our technology more advanced than theirs? It's definitely cool that we can have that stuff that prevents going to unnecessary websites during school. I was also thinking about his statement on why they actually do have computers for their school. We have ours used for blogging as such, but I wonder if they can even blog? I think that would bug me if we didn't have computer access, for it would make typing documents and searching informational research very difficult and old-fashioned. We would have to use old, dusty textbooks! The Internet is so much more efficient, and easier because you have everything right there on the screen. Richardson also talked about how instead of using negative rules, the rule book could say a bunch of "dos" instead of "dont's". Would kids (including us) respond in a better, more mature way to positive ruling? We are told what to do, instead of what not to do, will this help us to make the good choice and not even consider the bad ones? Do you think the positive rules would make for more productiveness rather than not?

Now Richardson also makes me wonder, do we need to be more productive with what we do? Should the teachers leave it up to the kids to guess what they are recomended to do? Most importantly, how does this effect our everyday lives? If you were told not to go to antarctica because a polar bear would eat you, wouldn't that make you curious as to what is actually down there? Personally, I just think negative restrictions make it more obvious to kids as to what they shouldn't be doing, rather than what they should be. A message to all you teachers out there; Would it be better to use a positive guideline rather than a strict rule for the kids?

Can anybody say "BLACKMAIL"?!

I wasn't quite sure what the blogger from "Web-blogged" was talking about at first, but then I came to realize that it was in their opinion on the California schools money for education issue. They think that Arnold Schwarzenegger was pretty much blackmailing Obama into giving them money for their school's education funds. The blogger stated that Schwarzenegger was being referred to as "Courageous" in some cases, but he claims he is "Helpless." I'm pretty sure I am going to have to go with the helpless part. I mean, in any case, aren't they supposed to teach us that blackmailing or holding something against anyone is wrong? Yet, they can do it themselves for more money? In what world does that make any sense? In a way, it is hypocritical to the school children of California.

One thing I didn't completely understand about the blog is this: Was the money going to California only, or was it going to education across the nation? I don't think it would be fair that only California go the money. Sure, they might need it more than others, but still, it is still necessary to every department of education.

Kanye West's rude behavior

What the heck was Kanye thinking?! I don't think he even was thinking! At the MTV Video Music Awards in New York last night, Taylor Swift won an award for best female video. She was up against Beyoncé for the award. She didn't even expect to win, but Kanye decided his opinion mattered more than what Taylor had to say in her speech for the award. He ran up on the stage, took the microphone from poor Taylor, and stated how Beyoncé should have won over her! She won fair and square, and he had no right at all to take that moment from her. I watched it myself, and I was just sitting in shock when I saw what he did. He got booed, and he deserved that! Taylor's big moment was ruined by someone who decided his voice was louder than hers and she was shut down by it. That was just plain rude Kanye.

Lucky for him, Kanye did not win any awards that night, because if he had, I could imagine someone doing the same thing to him that he did to Taylor Swift. I found it very funny that every time his name was in the nomination, it got booed. He totally had that for himself. It was not any body's fault but his own. Even though he tried to apologize for his actions, I think he should not be forgiven. If he had even thought about it before he ran onto the stage, he wouldn't have done it.

But further more, I was thinking of how these people affect us. Celebrities are supposed to set good examples and be our role models. Sure, they are human, but if we think before we act, why can't they? If everyone in the world acted out in such ways, there would be no stability in audience to speaker. This said, for example, when we give our blog presentations, one of the class cannot jump up and start disagreeing with the presenter.

The Internet and YOU

I was stunned at the way Wesch pointed out how much you can do on the Internet these days. The web has turned into some good and some bad. A good thing is, for example, these blogging websites. You could share your thoughts with the world, all within a matter of seconds! That is astounding! The more you blog, the more people know about you though. Also, Facebook has grown in popularity. Everyone can see what your thinking, doing, tests, and more. If someone hacks your Facebook, are you done for? Maybe. When you share everything from your thoughts to an essay you wrote, people EVERYWHERE (that there is Internet) can see! It can be more Eco-friendly, but more dangerous.

The article we read on "New Literacy" was incredible. I had some arguments about the opinions they had on technology, though. The article said that we, as writers, are pretty much getting sloppy. Instead of typing out the full words, we sometimes write like "U" for "you" or the number 4 instead of for. But I think as long as we know how to write the write way and show that we do on essays and tests, we should be allowed to type however we want. As long as it doesn't affect our learning, we can send a quick message to our friends using text-language.