War Paint

    “Another horrific day of drills and conditioning,” thought Geo Kealer as the sound of a bugle broke the pre-dawn calm. Fresh out of training, he rushed out of bed and made it almost before the horn quit blowing, for fear of the possible consequences of being late. The lieutenant came in, with the ugliest expression on his face. He was an incredibly ugly man. He had a large, twisting mustache, a bald head, and a score of scars crisscrossing his face. He was probably the most lax officer in the army. But he came in with a grim expression, slowly pacing up and down the barracks. Finally he stopped at the far end. Turning around he stood silently looking at the ground for several minutes. Finally he took a deep breath and said, “Men, Go to the armory and get armed for battle. The enemy has marched across our border and slaughtered entire towns. This will be the biggest challenge of your lives. Some of you will die but, if you follow orders and fight till death, we will win.” Suddenly some people were arguing and fighting. Others were scrambling to the door, eager to finally start getting some action.
    But Geo Kealer just sat down quietly. He was suddenly too scared to speak. He had never killed anyone before. Let alone even been in a real fight.  One thought formed in his mind and stuck. “I’m going to die.”
     After the commotion settled down and the members of his unit were either in line at the armory or sitting in the barracks, shocked. Geo’s best friend, James Walker, walked up to him and sat down on the bed across from him. Geo slowly looked into his eyes. They were as full of tears as his. They stared into each others eyes sharing the dread that covered the barracks. Finally Geo broke the silence saying, “We should get to the armory before people start looking for us.”  James Walker nodded his agreement and they got up and slowly walked to the door.  The base was small, but heavily fortified. It was surrounded by ten foot, electrified, razor wire fence. Every 20 yards there was a guard tower with a spotlight and a fifty caliber anti-aircraft gun and a smaller machine gun for ground targets.  The armory was a massive concrete building surrounded by tents full of weapons ranging from rocket launchers and grenades, to handguns and knives. As they neared the building the sound of orders through megaphones filled the air.  Following them they found the rest of their unit. They got in line early but there was still about five hundred people in front of them. By the time Geo was covered, head to toe, in body armor and weapons. his unit was ordered to report to the vehicle depot for transportation to the front lines.  They were heading toward Kertland. The enemy is expected to attack there next and Geo and his unit are expected to be there to surprise them and drive the away from the city.
    When they got to city they were horrified to discover that it was already under attack. Ordered to sneak around and attack from behind, Geo, James, and about half their unit took off through the woods. Just before they got into position the rest of the unit surged forward pushing the enemy’s front lines backward.  when Geo and his people attacked the enemy was pinned between the two groups. At first he was more scared than he’s ever been. First he was deafened by the gunfire. Then almost blinded by the blood and dirt in the air. Halfway through the battle it had all become a blur. Nothing was going through Geo’s mind except “Take cover!!!” and “FIRE!!!”  He ran out of ammo and started fighting hand-to-hand. Finally, he was wrestled to the ground by one of his own men. Finally his hearing returned and he heard people saying “It’s over! We won!”
    Geo was ecstatic when he first heard the news. Then he realized someone was missing. “James!” he screamed over and over into the air. Rolling over bloody, burnt, dismembered, corpses to find James, Geo was about to give up hope when he heard someone moaning. Following the sound he finally found James. His body was riddled with bullets. A bloody stump is all the remained of his left leg. Face covered in dirt and blood James reached out and grabbed Geo by his arm and pulled him close.
    He said “Geo... You are my best friend and the closest thing I have to family... I just want you to know that it was an honor and a privilege getting to know you and I want you to keep fighting. Don’t ever quit, slow down, or start thinking your going to die in battle. If you start to, just remember what happened to me.” At that he died. Geo could do nothing but cry. Eventually someone found him and led him to a tent full of doctors.  That's the last thing he remembers.
    When he finally wakes up, days later, his unit is already marching toward the enemy’s border to counter attack in an effort to cripple them bad enough to force them to pull back their remaining troops to defend their own people.
     Geo went on to become the greatest war hero in history. Having never lost a battle he is the most decorated officer in history. He fought in dozens of battles in a number of different countries. The whole time remembering what his best friend James told him in his dying moments.

Online classrooms

     Ever dreamed of completing college without having to buy books or even go to school?  Who hasn't.  Well the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is making that a reality for many of it's students. Many of their classes are online and they recently built a brand new library without a single book.
     Some "old-fashioned" teacher, and even a few students, argue that this "digital classroom" disrupts the experience that people should get when attending college. But others argue that this makes class time more useful. Teachers are able to spend more time one-on-one with students and students are able to ask more relevant questions.
    Book makers don't like this book free library and similar ones. Text book sales are worth more then eight billion dollars a year. Colleges and Universities, by buying on copy, can  distribute it to as many students as they want. Publishers can't even charge as much for the books people do buy. Producers of e-readers and ipad are benefiting from the transition from text to digital. Colleges and Universities are purchasing these for their libraries. They allow students to rent them and download books. The libraries are gaining money from this process.
     In my opinion, this is a very good idea. I believe this is how all people will learn some day. I never have enough time in class to and questions and understand what it is, exactly, that I'm supposed to be learning. Nobody ever has enough money. Being cheaper than printed books, e-books will help more people pay for higher education. 

Head for Success

    Would you let someone scan your brain and take a test just to fill out a job application? Some people would. But others would feel like it is an invasion of privacy. Even some business owners say it might not be as effective as experience. I read an article about just a procedure. ("http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11730685")
    Doctors recently conducted a study to determine whether brain scans can show whether you would become a successful business person or should be placed in a leadership position. The process is relatively simple taking only 45 minutes. The scan and test not only tell you if you would be a leader, but if you would succeed in other areas. It tells doctors, and your potential employer, a lot about you. But you might not want other people knowing information that isn't pertinent to the job your applying to. In my opinion the information isn't very personal. But if your not willing to undergo a medical procedure just to apply for a job you MIGHT get, then you should mention that to your interviewer.
    This procedure is new and still being tested. But even if it is proven to be 100% accurate some business owners believe that after hiring people for so many years, they are more effective than any machine could ever be. But neuroscientists would argue that they can make a real contribution to knowing how to select good leaders. Selecting good leaders could benefit everyone.
    Whatever your view on the subject is, I feel like it is a good idea. They should continue this research till it is completely accurate and it benefits everybody in the job market.

Compare/Contrast Essay

Folklore defines a culture the same way someone’s personality defines them as a person. Although every story is unique, they all share several similarities.  But despite multiple similarities there are even more differences.  I recently read three pieces of folklore. Each one is from a different continent.
      The first story I read was Rabbit Plays Tug-of-war.  From this Native American story I realized that it’s a bad idea to take advantage of other people for your own entertainment.  It told of a rabbit who challenged two big, strong snakes to a game of tug-of-war.  However, the rabbit pit the snakes against each other instead. when they heard his laughter they banished him from the watering hole.
      The second tale I read was titled The Lion and the Mouse. This one of Asops’ fables tells of a Mouse accidentally terrorizing a lion. The lion is going to kill him but after the mouse explains that he might need his help one day the lion sets him free. several days later the lion is caught in a trap and the mouse comes along and rescues him.  Like the Rabbit Plays Tug-of-war all the characters are animals. But they teach a lesson that will be beneficial in your lifetime.
      The last story I read was written by the Micmac tribe.  It is titled Bloody Knife.  The story told of a fight between two men from rival tribes. One slips in the mud and drops his knife into the stream. He reaches for it and he can never touch it. He falls down and claws his way towards it but it is always out of reach. His fellow tribe members come and find him later that day. They remove him from the river and try to grab his knife. It remains out of reach no matter how hard they try to get it. The other man’s blood is still on the blade and refuses to wash off despite the rapid current. This is the only story I read that someone actually died. But just like Rabbit Plays Tug-of-war the problem is based around a competition between two characters. And similar to The Lion and the Mouse someones life is in the other characters hands.
       All three stories that I read were from completely different cultures. They retained a certain uniqueness, yet they were full of similarities. This just displays how similar all people are.

Descriptive paragraph

Slowly getting down in my stance grimacing as my knees crack and intense pain shoots through my legs. I start examining my situation. The smell of fresh cut grass fills my nose. Then I notice the terrible scent of sweating bodies.I look up and see two massive guys looking down on me giving me the feeling like i was about to be crushed. I try to ignore the pain from the previous plays as I take note of of the location of the defensive players.I hear the heavy breathing of my teammates and myself. I hear Jacob say “Ready!” and I put my quivering hand on the ground. The rough grass pricks my fingers.  A cool breeze blows in the moment of silence that followed. In my nervousness i bite my tongue and I’m shocked when the taste blood fills my mouth. My muscles tense, ready to dive forward as hard and fast as I can I await the signal to move...

Green Energy

     We've all heard about an the U.S. having an "energy crisis."  But in fact we aren't. We've never had more power or been smarter about using it. However, the environment is suffering because of the amount of energy we produce and consume. I'm not an environmentalist or even someone who actually cares a great deal but I felt like someone was actually doing something worth our time and money when i read about Google partially paying for an East Coast wind farm. (http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/12/technology/google_wind_power/index.htm)
      People around the world, including myself,  need to start caring about the rest of the world. We need to start doing more things to help the environment and less to hurt it. That is why I like this article. Someone figured out that if things don't change bad things will happen around the world. Eventually people will begin dieing from radiation coming through holes in the ozone. Most of the pollution that causes these holes comes from producing and using energy. Projects like this will protect a lot of people and other things in the world from suffering further damage.
     Something annoyed me when I read this though.  Google announced on a blog post that by doing this they will earn millions. They offered to pay for this knowing that it would "offer a solid financial return."  The fact that someone would only do something like this if it will pay them back annoys me. People who are capable of helping should help whenever they can. 

Water Shortage

        Everyone has experienced being thirsty. The physically active have experienced dehydration. But nothing could compare with whats going on in China. I was hit by feelings of disbelief, anger, and i don't know what else after reading a CNN news story about their water shortage. (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/13/china.water.crisis/index.html?iref=allsearch) Just imagine how terrible it must be not knowing if you will have enough water the simply drink. China's rapidly increasing population and increase in factories and power plants are too much for it's limited resources. Hundreds of thousands of people don't have enough water.  But because of China’s problem they are starving their neighbors to the South. People in those countries are going without water because china is building dams on rivers that provide water to those people. This is causing some poor farmers and other people who depend on the water to lose their livelihood. I would not only be worried about the shortage of water, but I would be angry at Chinese officials for cutting off my water.  But anger and worry would also be grouped with helplessness. Because China is building more damns and reservoirs everywhere they can despite the large number of people opposing it. But to be completely honest I don’t know how those people can just sit there while they slowly run out of water. When someone does something that they know will hurt someone else that bad I get so angry. But then i get frustrated because i know there’s nothing i can do...
          I worry about little things that have nothing to do with life. Almost none of it is necessary to live. But hundreds of thousands in China and other countries that rely on those rivers are worried about how to survive. Even if they manage to have enough drinking water they might not have enough water to grow enough food. For now though, all they can do is hope someone can find a way before the entire country runs out of water.

I Hear America Singing

After reading I Hear America Singing tones of admiration and contentment jumped out at me.  Walt Whitman speaks of the hard work that everyone in America does without complaint. About how they almost enjoy working.  He says all of this as if he's someone looking over the country admiring all the things that people do and how they live.