Pakistan Blocks Facebook

Pakistan's government has no right to take away Facebook from its citizens.

After the recent problems in China with Google, I would think that Pakistan would learn that blocking off certain internet sources, is not the way to go. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Pakistan ordered that Facebook be shut down, over a dispute on Muhammad pages. Just like the situation with China, I don’t think Pakistan has any right to ban Facebook. As citizens of Pakistan, they should have the right to speak, write, and express their feelings freely, as long as their comments are not critically harming anyone else. The information section of the Facebook page states " They can't take away our right to freedom of speech, by trying to scare us into silence." It is not right for a country to take away citizens freedom, and the Pakistan citizens won’t back down. If Pakistan takes away the freedom to use Facebook, it is unimaginable the other things that Pakistan could take away from citizens. Although Facebook is not a nessaity, and the citizens of Pakistan could live without it, the concept of the issue seems to be the biggest problem. If Pakistan can take away one website because of one group, then what happens if they get too powerful, and take away even more?

Over spring break I went down south, to North Carolina. My family and I were originally just going to head up north for a few days, but I insisted on leaving the state. We drove around ten hours to get there, and I didn’t really mind the ride, it was relaxing. One of my favorite events of the vacation was on our way back home. We stopped in Tennessee for a few nights, and one of the nights, around nine, we found this huge really weird looking building.
We went inside to check the place out. It was really cool, but also pretty weird. There was a mirror maze. I went inside the maze and was immediately confused. Walking into mirrors, I tried to find my way to the exit. As I moved through the maze, the scenery and colors of the flashing lights changed around me. There was music blaring and I actually found the exit somewhat quick. Then after I got through the maze, I went into this little room that had a bunch of laser lights. It was like a spy movie! I had to travel through the room as fast as I could without letting any of the laser lights touch me! I felt like a little kid, but it was a lot of fun. After I went through that room a couple of times, I went putt-putting in a glow in the dark room. I am pretty sure that I lost, but I know it was a close game. This place also sold some pretty high technical wands. Two of my best friends, Becca Lank, and Lexi Kliza are really obsessed with Harry Potter. They love wands and everything magical like that. I really wanted to get one for each of them, but the wands were really expensive.
Another place I actually enjoyed is where I went for my cultural event, the Biltmore Mansion. Everything was so pretty there, and I took a ton of pictures. I loved it, even if it got a little boring at times, it was just so relaxing.
My parents wanted to go into so many Indian shops. I got really bored because every store sold the same exact stuff. I bought a few things, but other than that, I basically sat around until they decided they were ready to leave. The worst part about it too, is that half of the stores we went to were in the middle of the mountains with absolutely no reception for my phone, so I hardly was able to have contact with the outside world.
Overall it was a really relaxing way to spend my spring break:)

SIMUN

SIMUN was a fun experience, hard at times, but it was a really cool three days. I didn’t enjoy doing the research at all, but the actual participating in SIMUN was really interesting. It was neat to be a part of the professional procedures, and all the fancy wording wasn’t as hard to learn as I thought it would be. I got the hang of all the terms by the end of the first day!
I was a little scared to stand up and talk with everybody listening to me and watching me closely. But as SIMUN went on, I found it less and less scary. I noticed that when I participated, SIMUN got so much more fun. When all the countries fought everything got so much more interesting too. I found it easier to participate when there was a lot of controversy, because then I had a ton more to talk about.
I think I did pretty well overall. The first day of SIMUN, I wasn’t really clear on how everything worked. I was a little bit hesitant, and only talked towards the end. So I know that that day was definitely not my strongest. The second day however, I found a lot more to talk about. My country was Mexico, and that is when we discussed the issue of the drug war in Mexico. So I found it easier to talk about, being that I was an important figure in the situation. I also felt like that was the issue that I had researched the most, so I actually really understood the topic. The third day I talked, but probably not as much as I had on the second day. I didn’t really feel as comfortable with the topic, and didn’t talk as much being that I didn’t fully know how to react to the situation at hand. I did talk a few times though, because I had to support my allies.
To prepare for the SIMUN experience I studied the issues given, and my country in general. I also asked some friends who have been through SIMUN before, about what to do, and how everything works. It made me feel a lot better knowing that SIMUN wasn’t so bad after all, according to them anyway. I feel like I spent a ton of time researching the topics, but I think I could have understood them a little better. Next year I plan to look further into the topics, so I actually understand them, rather than just knowing some facts. I want to be able to participate right off the bat, and in order to feel comfortable doing that, I want to know right away who my countrys allies are, and what my countrys stand on everything is. I would also like to better know, who would be involved in many of the issues, and know who other countries allies are.
Overall I really enjoyed SIMUN and am actually pretty excited to do it again next year. (:

The Kite Runner

In my book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, I have noticed several cultural differences. First off, everyone living in Kabul and the locations around it, are judged by their religious beliefs. Hassan and Ali are both servants for Baba and Amir, and they believe in very different religions. Because they believe in different things, they are treated very differently in society. The United States is just the opposite; people believe in all kinds of religions, and are all treated alike in society.

Another huge cultural difference that I have noticed when reading The Kite Runner, is weddings. When Amir gets married to Soraya in Afghanistan, their wedding is a lot different than the typical American wedding. Instead of asking the women to marry him himself which is usually the case in America, Amir requests that his father asks her father for Soraya's hand in marriage. Even throughout the rest of the wedding procedures, the rituals vary dramatically.

Another huge difference between the two cultures is the seasons. The kids in Afghanistan go to school during the summer, while kids in America get the summer off of school. Afghanistan children get the winter off of school, while American kids are in school. This difference in school seasons has an impact on the culture. During the Afghanistan winter break people gather together to have a kite flying and running competition. As far as I know, America has no such competitions during our summer, that are as large and important as the ones in Afghanistan.

The biggest cultural difference between America and Afghanistan is dominantly the government and the wars going on in The Kite Runner. The streets in Afghanistan are torn up, and Afghanistan is just a terribly destroyed country. Living in America, I can't say the same. America has its rough cities and towns, but nothing in America can even compare to the destruction in Afghanistan. The thing about all this too, is that the people living in Afghanistan are used to all the horrible violence, they live day by day, just simply trying to live. While people in America are fixed on their toys and games, and for most people life comes easily.

Simun Example

Mexico would support the United States in occupying Pakistan to secure nuclear materials. Mexico would try to send in as many troops possible to help out the United States. But not too many troops, qualifying we are in the middle of a drug war, and need all our troops to be helping our own country. But it would be a possibility as well that Mexico could "loan" back the American troops currently in Mexico, back to the United States to help them for a bit. Mexico would also try to support the United States by giving them money, after all, they have given Mexico so much money and support in the violent drug war. Mexico, being practically a third world country, is not able to hand out money as easily as the United States is though unfortunately, but Mexico would certainly try to contribute and help out our allies as best as possible.

Mexico needs and wants the United State's support in a lot of other things too, so Mexico would do the most that it could do to support them like they have supported us over the past several years. Mexico would also urge the United Nation's peace keepers to help out, as well as just the United Nations in general helping out by offering support and money to the United States. Because Mexico has no known nuclear weapons, it would not support Pakistan, nor understand their reasoning to have the weapons. Mexico is sick of the violence going on in their very own country, and would like to stop violence in others. Mexico is trying to stop violence in their country, and needs support to stop the violence, from other countries around the world. If Mexico helps out the United States, maybe they would be more willing to help back a little bit at least.

Hero of the Day

When I was seven years old I learned how to drive a pontoon boat. I took no lessons, and received no help, using just the wisdom of my mom’s words from afar. The experience, scary and nerve-racking, provided me with a memory that will last forever.
My two cousins, Karlie and Kody, my Aunt Lynne and Grandma were visiting my mom and me at our cottage up north. They were up for a weekend to enjoy the sunlight summer brings on Higgins Lake. We all boarded my mom’s pontoon boat, putting lifejackets on everyone who was under the age of sixteen, and my grandma too, being that she had never learned how to swim. Water splashing, we took off full speed onto the lake, bright blue, and beautiful. I held on tight; I have always been afraid of going super fast on boats.
Our destination was this island in the middle of the lake; a gorgeous island that has tons of rocks surrounding it. When we finally reached the island my mom anchored the boat on a nice patch of sand. I decided to stay on the boat with my grandma. I’d already been to the island before, and just wanted to stay warm in the comfort of the sun. Everyone else wadded in the water to get closer to the shoreline.
A few minutes after they had left, my grandma noticed that we seemed to be getting further and further away from the island and the rest of our family. She was right. We were drifting because the anchor hadn’t been properly set into the sand. Yelling, I begged for my mom’s help. She was only about thirty feet away. Yet, uniquely and much to our dislike, Higgins Lake’s depth greatly varies in a matter of feet. This made it practically impossible for her to help us, even when she was standing in the water so close.
Hurriedly, my mom called out to me, “Taylor! Start the boat!” I ran to the steering wheel, and pushed the key into the ignition. My mom yelled out more directions until I was driving the boat slowly towards her. My grandma was as scared as ever; she shook like an earthquake from nervousness. The boat, crawling forward, finally reached my mom so the rest of my family could hop aboard. Praising me in my amazing accomplishment my mom drove the boat back to our dock. I was the hero of the day.

Conquering the Bunny Hill

Last weekend, my friend Becca and I went to Mt.Brighton to learn how to snowboard. I've been skiing practically my whole life, while my sister has tried to convince me that I should snowboard instead. Finally, I wanted to give snowboarding a try. It looked fun and exciting, and it seemed so different from skiing.

When we first arrived at Mt.Brighton, Becca and I put on all our warm snow clothes. My sister had used various snowboards in all her years on the slopes, and two of them happened to be perfect sizes for Becca and me. But boy, trying to put on the huge boots that fit into the snowboard bindings is really difficult!

Once we were finally ready, we stumbled over to what we thought was the bunny hill. It seemed too big to be for beginners, but we continued on anyway, and grabbed hold of the tow rope that took us up to the top of the hill. From there we slowly strapped our boots to our snowboards. It took me a little while to figure out how to do this, after all there are so many different little parts to the boots and snowboard!

I stood up with both feet tightened into the snowboard. I hopped forward and started sliding down the hill. Before I knew it, I was back on the ground. I fell almost right after I had started. It was then that I discovered snowboarding would not be as easy as it looked.

I got up and continued down the rest of the hill, falling quite a lot! It was very painful, but really funny at the same time. After getting used to the hill for a little while, Becca and I took a lesson. Our instructor laughed every time Becca or I fell. Of course, he was concerned for our safety, but our ridiculous lack of talent did happen to be very entertaining. Becca fell flat on her face more than once, as did I.

After the lesson was over we practiced some more, and by the end of the day, I was able to snowboard down the entire hill without falling, stopping successfully at the bottom. I am so proud of my accomplishment.

We went home, and the next day I woke up with a stiff back, sore neck, and arms that hurt every time I moved them. Yet the pain was all worth it, because learning how to snowboard is one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I hope to go back to Mt.Brighton to learn even more soon.

Snow Day Extreme

One day in the middle of winter, after it had snowed all night and continued to snow all day, there was ten feet of snow. Of course, school was cancelled, being so many children were trapped in their homes. Fortunately for me, there is a window in my bedroom upstairs that can easily be exited. I put on warm snow clothes, and slid out the window onto a pile of snow in my front yard. I met five of my friends, who had also escaped through their upstairs’ windows, at a nearby park to go sledding. But the park’s hill was too small for us big shots. We walked twenty miles at high speed to get to Mt. Brighton, lugging our sleds close behind. Once we arrived, we jumped on a chair lift while no one was looking. The chair lift carried us up to the top of the hill where we lined up across the snow buried hillside. "Ready, set, go!” I said, starting the race, and we all took off down the black diamond ski slope on our cheap plastic sleds.

I flew through the air, like an airplane above the ocean, feeling free and unleashed. I was in the lead too! That is, until one of my friends, Alexi, knocked my sled over! I shot off like a torpedo, and luckily landed right back on my sled again! It was time for my revenge, and we were already more than half way down the slope. I had to make my move, and do it quickly. I built up momentum and rammed my sled right into hers, but she didn't budge, and she flew past the designated finish line before I did! I had lost, she had won, it was over. But the fun had just begun.

When the five of us were stopped at the bottom of the hill Julia made a comment that made Gabe bubble over with pretend anger. Gabe dove towards the giant of our friends, Julia, and Julia, having much strength, threw Gabe to the side with ease. Another mock battle had begun.

I ran towards Julia, trying to help Gabe, and threw the snow I had in my hand right at Julia's head. Her face turned bright red, and her eyes grew wide in anger. I was in for it now. She ran at me full force, and knocked me down. I watched from the ground as Brooke tried to attack Alexi, who was defending Julia. Once again, a friend went down! Julia stood victorious with Alexi at her side.

Laughing off the competitive humorous fight, we started home into the darkness of the night. Our snow day had come to an end, and we soon were safely to our homes climbing the snow piles into our bedroom windows. Settled in my room, I thought back on my day and laughed. It had been the best snow day I'd ever had.

The Congo Needs Help

The United Nations should help the Democratic Republic of the Congo civilians so there isn’t a repeat of the incident in Rwanda, and so many innocent lives won’t be lost.

If the United Nations doesn’t stop the terror in the Congo, no one else will. These violent actions are soon to become another war like the one in Rwanda. The rebels need to be stopped immediately. Not even the Congolese Army can be trusted to protect the Congo’s civilians. When supported logistically by the U.N., the Congolese Army managed to kill many civilians, with the U.N.’s help! The U.N. was tricked into believing that the civilians’ safety can be achieved simply by the Congolese Army. Now that that option is no longer, the U.N. must take a stronger stand, and help the Congo’s civilians themselves. This means, of course, sending in U.N. troops.

The Congolese people don’t have the finances or resources to protect themselves. They need the U.N.’s support, training, resources, and protection, until they can manage to shield themselves from the rebels. Many innocent civilians of the Congo are dying each and every day, because they don’t have the necessities to care for themselves. With the U.N.’s training they could become a force to stop the rebels. With the U.N.’s resources and protection, they could prepare themselves, through training, to fight off the rebels. All they need is help, and if the world can’t take responsibility to support and protect innocent people, then many will suffer the unfair consequences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/world/africa/14congo.html?_r=1

New Year!

The year 2009 seemed to fly by. But none the less, it has been yet another very eventful year. It is the year that I earned my high school varsity letter in cross-country and got my varsity jacket, experienced my first high school dances including homecoming, as well as many other new and amazing experiences. Yes, there are the experiences that I am happy to leave behind, but there are also the experiences that I hope to never forget.

I was able to celebrate the New Year with a huge group of friends at my house! We watched a somewhat scary movie the last two hours of 2009, which probably sounds like a poor way to spend the hours, but it was a lot of fun. At midnight we watched the ball drop on television then we ran around my neighborhood yelling and using our noise makers, excited to be a part of the New Year celebration! It was definitely cold outside because we forgot to put on our coats, but it was hardly noticeable over the excitement in the air. Part of me is sad to leave the year behind, but I know that 2010 will be even better if I choose to make it that way.

I am happy to get a fresh start, or so it feels. I want to make 2010 a year that matters, a year that I can make a difference. I don’t want it to be just another year counting away on the clock of life; it needs to be an important year that I can remember forever.

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is a time for family traditions in my household. My family wakes up early on the morning of Christmas and heads downstairs to open the longingly anticipated presents. But who is to receive the first gift of the year? That is for the pickle to decide. On our fake tree, a metallic green pickle is hidden between the branches. My sister and I circle around the tree searching for the pickle, and once one of us finds it, the ripping of wrapping paper begins!

Another tradition my family has takes place on Christmas day as well. Every year my aunt, uncle, and cousin come over for a holiday dinner. During thetime they are at our house, we open presents from each other. But we also open presents from our family down south in Louisiana. They send a package full of presents for each and every one of us. It is always exciting to see what they have sent to us, because usually it is an item that we would not find here in Michigan. Through these presents we are able to get a sense of what it would be like to live in Louisiana.

One more tradition that my family has over the holidays is to travel up north to my grandma’s house for a Christmas celebration! This event usually takes place a few days before, or after Christmas, and is a time for everyone on my mom's side of the family to gather as one huge family. All the family members that are under eighteen receive presents from everyone, while those above eighteen, participate in a joke gift exchange. I always find it fun to watch this exchange, even though I am obviously not allowed to participate in it yet! I love this family gathering, not because of the presents, but because of how much fun it is to gather with the people I love but never get to see.

The Power Of One

The Power of One has been one of the most graphically overwhelming movies I have ever seen. Sad, would be another word to describe how I felt as I watched hundreds of black Africans beaten to death. I have learned that South Africa has a dark and deep past, as this movie portrays. They have had disturbing and terrifying years, that can never be replaced.

This movie has shown me how much of a difference a single person can make in the world. P.K. taught only a handful of black Africans to write and readEnglish, but the knowledge he created was spread throughout many other adults and children. This simple knowledge was able to change the lives of many. And that, therefore, is definitely inspiring.

It really upset me how the white Africans treated the black Africans. They treated them as if they were animals, with no feelings or thoughts. There was nothing the blacks could do to protect themselves, and they knew that if they tried to act against the whites, they would most likely be killed. They are all human, the only difference being the color of their skin, white or black.

One of the saddest parts in the movie is when Geel Piet was beaten to death. He was a good man, who was only trying to achieve freedom. For a long time he had to live in fear, but in the last few minutes of his life, he experienced what it felt like to be free. He died a free man.