Welfare update

1. Welfare and how it could better be run.
2. Welfare Economics by R. F. Boadway http://www.amazon.com/Welfare-Economics-R-F-Boadway/dp/0631133275/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352477252&sr=8-1&keywords=welfare+economics

 Debunking Social Policy Myths by Christopher Howardhttp://www.amazon.com/Welfare-State-Nobody-Knows-Debunking/dp/0691138338/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352477375&sr=1-2&keywords=welfare+state

AP U.S Text Book by an assortment of historians. http://www.amazon.com/American-History-Hardcover-Reinforced-Binding/dp/0078916976/ref=sr_1_26?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352477891&sr=1-26&keywords=ap+us+history+textbook+11th+edition ( Tells me how welfare came into being and what is has done to the economy over the last 70 years )

http://www.welfareinfo.org/ ( General overview of the system, how one applies, and the requierments to apply. )

Senior Project 2

     My Senior Project hasn't developed much. I worked a few hours with my mother learning how to cook pumpkin pie. I've also got my mentor interview set up to be next week on Monday. Mrs. Watter and I also plan to have a day of cooking after the election. We plan to cook a turkey in preparation for Thanksgiving so I can surprise my family by cooking a turkey for them.

Drugs

This country needs to kick the addictive substances that is consuming its citizens lives. Many do drugs just to be "anti-establishment" and others do it because them because they're "cool." If the government legalizes all drugs than some of the drug using population will lose the urge to continue using them. Some say if drugs are legal, and anyone has access to heroin and crack, that people on these drugs will interfere with theirs neighbor's naturally endowed right to the pursuit of happiness. This could very possibly happen but, since our country is based on the ideal that everyone is free to pursue happiness in their own way, people who use drugs should have the right to use them and the responsibility to keep to themselves when they do. If someone uses drugs and hurts someone else its off to jail with him, no exceptions, so those who use drugs should be responsible adults and have a friend with them to make sure they stay out of trouble.

ICE

Link

Response

I do not entirely agree that the English language is going down the tubes. I do agree that simple word  choice can be far more beautiful when compared to complex diction, but complex diction can have its own beauty to. English is the best descriptive language on the face of the earth because we have so many different words that we can use to describe things. We should not abandon a whole set of words just because they are more advanced, we should allow these words to prosper among the upper class the educated elite in this nation.

Talking about another blog

I am blogging about The Caucus, a politically based blog run by The New York Times. It tracks the movements of the candidates and gives short descriptions of what happened. This blog is basically a newspaper column that anyone can reach without paying the monthly toll to receive a newspaper. It brings news to the public and informs them so that they are not in the dark when they go to vote. The writer of the blog column enriches his blog by linking pictures to visually display what he is saying and imbedding videos when pictures do not do the scene justice. It is quite obvious that The New York Times put a great deal of effort into making this blog look appealing because they new the common man isnt going to be interested by just content, he needs visual stimuli to keep him interested. America needs more of these type of blogs, blogs that have a real reason and aren't created just to boost someones popularity or provide places for people to whine about life.

Cooking #2

        This week I tried my hand at creating a special type of burger. This deceiving plain burger that only displays a patty, ketchup and two buns actually has a whirlwind of flavor hidden under the first layer of beef. Hidden away inside the patty hides and assortment of different condiments, such as tomatoes, lettuces, and onions. These cooked treats are hidden to surprise the unprepared taster, but, they are not easily disguised.
        The first step in creating this delightful treat is dicing you're choice of condiments into small pieces. Once the vegetables are sliced and thoroughly mixed, they are ready to be rolled into the patty. To do this acquire a couple pounds of ground beef and make a few flattened sheets of this beef. The vegetables are then placed in the center of the sheet and the beef folded and shaped so no vegetables are showing. The patty is than grilled until the outside is a savory brown. Cheese, ketchup and mustard can be added to enliven the taste and make it a little more American. Serve with a large Serve with a large American Coca-cola and enjoy.
        This tactic can also be used to play funny jokes on friends and family. Instead of filling the patty with delicious vegetables, it can be filled with something more interesting like mayo or hot sauce. I played this very trick on my sister rolling up two egg yokes into her patty than sealing it and serving with a very American Coca-Cola. Unfortunately I ended up wearing the burger, but the shock on her face was completely worth it. But remember, if you are going to pull this trick, use a plastic Coke bottle to avoid serious injury.

Immitation

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Link to Essay on Dancing

Link

I Want a Husband

        Why do I want a husband?
        I want a husband who brings home the bacon and pays for all of my needs. One who doesn't complain when I take his credit card and use it to go on a shopping spree.  One who does the taxes and use his hard earned money to keep me afloat.
        I want a husband who holds my opinion on everything that goes on inside the house above his own. One who doesn't complain when I order him to lighten my load and do common house hold activities after a long day at work. One who yields to my will when I state that something is not clean enough and needs to be scrubbed again.
        I want a husband who will shape his physical appearance to suit my personal desires and wear jeans that are so tight they hurt. One who massages my back whenever he has physical desires of his own but immediately answers my commands when my body needs sexual attention. One who will be attracted to me no matter how far I let my own physical appearance slip. One who will remain faithful to me even if I start to cheat.
        I want a husband who compliments me at every turn and makes dinner when I don't feel like cooking. One who savors every bite of my cooking, no matter how horrible it is. One who doesn't mind when I decide to make a food that I enjoy but he hates.
        I want a husband who will pay me half of his income whenever I decide I'm ready for a change of husbands. One who will give up custody of the children when we decide to separate. One who submits to my choice on whether or not I should get an abortion.
        Who wouldn't want a husband?

Cryonics

        Immortality has always been a fabled dream to those who have not come to terms the mysteries surrounding the great unknown. Many have turned to religion to cover their fear, some have turned to the pseudoscience of Cryonics.
        Cryonics is the process of flash freezing a dead body so that it may be repaired in the future and the body reanimated. The idea behind flash freezing is that even though neurons of a dead person lack the electric pulses that are used to communicate, they still have the ability to produce them if they can be repaired and jump started. The problem with this idea is the brain breaks down relatively quickly, so, in response to this natural fact, cryonic enthusiasts put forth the idea that one could freeze the brain to significantly slow down this process. The only problem with this idea is that we do not posses the technology to flash freeze a brain with out destroying the tissue and we do not know how to reanimate a brain.
       The Cryonic process is relatively simple. First the subjects brain is injected with chemicals that help to prevent cell crystallization, second the subject is flash frozen using liquid nitrogen, third the body is stored while science advances enough to reanimate the dead body. Some theorize that nanobots could be used to repair and jump-start the brain, but we are years of from any form of supercomputer nanobots.
       World wide, only 200 people have been frozen with the hope of being reanimated in the future, and only 3 of them have any chance of having the monetary resources to pay for their own reanimation, so, currently, Cryonics is a very ineffective way of casing immortality. Maybe we should turn our hopes and funds towards bio-computational engineering instead.
       

Country vs City

Link Here

Link to Comic Book essay

Calvin and Hobbes

Illiteracy, a horendous crime

The Human Cost of Society Discusses the drawbacks of illiteracy for both the literate and the illiterate. Kozol uses repetition in the structure of his essay to amplify the point he is trying to make. Most of the paragraphs that make up this essay begin with Illiterates and is followed by something bad that stems from illiteracy. This repetition Strengthens Kozol's point that illiterates try over and over again to acclimate to normal society, but they will never succeed as long as they remain illiterate.

Greasy Lake

        Every young man wants to be bad, it is hard wired into our systems. Some simply aren't good at being bad, while others are amazing at it. The characters in Greasy Lake come from both ends of the spectrum.
        The main character and his two friends, Digby and Jeff,  are three young men who are absolutely terrible at being bad. Digby tried to emulate the bad boy persona by piercing his ear, but the fact that he fills this piercing with a golden star destroys any attempt to fulfill his "dream" of being a bad boy. He is also attending an ivy league school which, no matter who pays tuition, classifies him as a good boy. Jeff also believes hes a bad boy because he going to drop out of school, to become a painter/musician. There are no bad boy painters and even fewer bad boy musicians (rappers are not musicians).
        The irony that stems from the assertion the narrator made that he was "in the company of two dangerous characters" mocks the futile and hilarious efforts many good boys in their attempts to be bad men. This ironic statement is followed by the "bad boys" attempt to play a prank on their friend, an action that true bad boys would not attempt because bad boys simply do not care about anything, much less their "friends." This mistake along with the dark events that occurred because of it also mock the boys attempts at being bad, pointing out every thing they did that showed deep down they are good.
        As the story comes to a close, the boys are provided with an opportunity to be real bad boys, but they turn it down because they are still in shock due to the events that had just transpired. If they were truly bad they wouldn't have cared about anything and gone and done drugs and slept with those to ladies, but they said no a proved their naivety in regards to the art of being bad.

Peru Narrative

Not sure if Link, or deceivingly colored word

New Blogging subject, cooking

After my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and began chemotherapy last spring, I started making dinner for my family and discovered how much I loved to cook. As I planned dinners and researched recipes, my new chore morphed into an activity I looked forward to. I wanted to become a better cook, so I began to study the art of cooking in depth through my senior project. I knew that my 11th grade AP English teacher was an excellent cook, so I asked her to be my advisor. Every week we prepare a dinner together. She has taught me to roll ground beef and spices into amazing meat balls and to mix fruits and vegetables into salads. Even now that my mother has recovered from chemotherapy, I still enjoy cooking dinner twice a week for my family.

Descriptive Essay

Dat Link

There's A Bird In There!!!!! (description)

     The silver, cylindrical monstrosity that feeds on society's excrement sits peacefully digesting its morning meal. Peering down into the mouth of the beast, a paper plate stained with grease is joined by a Starbucks© cup, a bag of SnackMix©, some unidentified liquids, and one half eaten dead bird. These various items are protected from the beast's gullet by a thin plastic bag that robs glutton from it's meal whenever it stuffs itself to overflowing. This condom like device fits neatly around its lips forming a tight seal so stray refuse does not find its way into the fiend without protection. The edge of the plastic bag reaches the dull colored handles that allow the beast's masters to move it from place to place. These handles sit atop the only section of shiny aluminum that is not scared by long dents running perpendicular to its mouth and the bricks the creature sits on top of. These oddly shaped dents serve no purpose and mar the hideous creature's already horrendous appearance. This trash can sits alone in the quad, separated from its own kind and surrounded by barbarians that continuously taunt him with meals of used cups and plates, only to take the feast away before it can swallow. But, there it sits, in the middle of the quad.

1. I learned that the structure or the lengthening of the paragraphs brought us closer to the box man.

2. The literal meaning of the text and why he supposedly had STD's

3. I wish i had asked about the box man's STD's

I am a Brony

Here

Senior Project

At first I had a great deal of trouble choosing the final topic for my Senior Project. I bounced around with different ideas, such as gardening and blogging. Than we had a project for AP US to cook something for the class so I made moon-pies with a friend. It was so much fun I decided I wanted to learn more on the subject of cooking, and what better way than doing a senior project on cooking? In all truth I'm not completely new to the subject since I've been cooking meals for myself since i was young, but nothing good.

When I presented this idea, some laughed, some cried, some cheered, and some cried some more. The all asked me why and I said to get the ladies of course, secretly hiding my true intent to atcually learn to cook because its fun (not really a secret anymore but I digress).

Some time in the year, I will host a dinner party for my friends and cook everything to be eaten, hopefully only one runs away screaming. In this dinner I will try to recreate everything I have practiced over the year and present my patented cookbook, selling for only $20 each.

Long Form for Dumbing Us Down

Here

About me

My name is Robert James Wakerlin. I am a Senior at Napa High School who will be graduating High School next spring. I run with the cross country team and I vault with the track and field team. I am the leader the Napa High vault team and I hold the pole-vault record at Napa High. My favorite activity/hobby/sport is pole-vaulting. A vault is an experience known by few and all but impossible to describe, but, I will try my best to impart the thrilling excitement that courses through my body every time I vault in the next few lines.
I go through my usual routine before every vault, sets of little nervous twitches to loosen me up and prepare myself for the upcoming vault. My pole grows heavier in my hands with every passing moment. I then pick myself up and begin my slow trot down the runways. As the distance between me and the pit closes, I accelerate up until the butt of my pole plants in the box. My right leg drive upwards as if I was trying to knee myself in the chest. My right arm extends above my head as my left pushes against the pole, upward and outwards, storing it with the energy that will be needed to through me over the bar. As my left foot gives one more little push, I leave the ground and begin to aggressively swing my leg forward. The pole, still bent at this point, begins to curl forward as my left leg drives in an arching motion until both my legs are above my head. The pole begins to uncoil as I uncoil my body, lifting myself up the pole. My body straitens along the uncoiling pole my arms beginning to push downward. This push lifts my body above the now strait pole giving me a precious few more inches as my body slips over the cross-bar. My left arm gives one last little flick so the pole falls away from me. I fall slowly towards the earth either in elation as I see the bar remaining on the standards or deflation as I see the bar fall to earth with me. My back hits the mat with a final defining impact, the cushion either slowing my fall so I can spring back up or abruptly stopping my fall and pushing the wind from my lungs.
For those of you who do still do not understand what a vault is here is a link to one of the best vaults ever accomplished. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPoteIlsAeU (to see the current world record vault skip to 3:20) Here is another video of Serjei Bubka (the best vaulter ever) in slow-mo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=KUPBl4xToUM&NR=1
Another overwhelming aspect of my life is a certain fandom that I have been sucked into. A fandom that revolves around a world of technicolor ponies. Say what you will but, I like the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. For those of you who do not know what this is or haven't taken a stance on the show yet, here is my personal favorite episode for your viewing pleasure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS5jioC2T1U. It starts off slow but really picks up towards the end.
My other hobbies include gaming, reading, sleeping, eating, cooking (which happens to be my senior project), and arguing.