scary stuff.

i know the shootings happened yesterday, but i was very busy watching the news that i didnt find, nor did i look, for the time to blog about it. im sure you already know about the shootings at riverwalk. i live right down the street from that "high class" area, according to the news. first i heard about it from my brother, didnt believe it. then i heard it from my best friend, got worried. then we drove past it on the way to the gym, woah. the entry way of the gated community was lined with cop cars and news vans. i was worried. i was even more shocked when i found out that this event actually made channel 9 news last night. it also made the news this morning, and, if you were wondering, my house was indeed on television, from a sky shot of the whole area. i just find it so weird. i mean, i know this could happen anywhere, but this is the first time something like this happened in walking distance from my house. i also find it bizarre that all of the people involved in the situation were, at some point, in law enforcement. like my late grandma betty would say "riversides goin to hell in a handbasket."

oops.

well, i just realized that i forgot to do the question of the week. its sunday. umm, oops. it was just an uber busy week. i had my ap exam on wednesday and the time just kind of slipped away after that. well, im definately going to do the next one. and you have to admit my qows are always pretty good... right? oh well.

osama bin laden is dead?

So Im out walking my dog, Lucy, listening to my music, enjoying my day. I walk into my house and my brother says "hey, look what the screen says" so I look. "OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD". I was shocked. One thing that shocked me was the fact that right under that statement was something about Mariah Carey's twins, she had a boy and a girl!! That pissed me off, but anyway, I couldnt believe my eyes. One thing that gave me chills was all the people lined up outside of the White House singing The Star Spangled Banner. It seems like this is filling America with hope, and it actually is quite inspiring. I do find it crazy how big of an impact one man can have on an entire country, though. Well, maybe this will stop all the news on the Royal Wedding, I sure hope so.

Women accused of stealing MacBook laptop from man who refused to pay for sex, police say

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/women-accused-of-steal-macbook-from-man-who-refused-to-pay-for-sex-police-say.html

Need I say more?

Shocking!

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17902924

I actually saw this on Facebook. I scrolled passed it thinking it was one of those annoying virus articles. Then i read all of the comments. Well to start, this kid was charged with starting a fire, punching a female teacher in the face and trying to stab a girl. When I read that, I thought, "why would so many of my friends care about this?" Well, after reading the comments, I found out that this boy went to Villegas Middle School with many of my friends. This shocked me completely, hence the title of this blog. Anyway, yea, it kind of made me sad because a lot of my friends sounded really upset about it and despite the fact that I didnt know this boy, it makes me sad knowing someone that age would do something like that.

vent vent vent

okay. so i know i only use this thing to blog for school, and the only person following me is my teacher, but i am really mad and need to vent. so mr palo, if you havent already guessed, this has nothing to do with anything government, despite the fact that the majority of the things i post have nothing to do with that either.
okay. so the reason i missed school today was to check out the two schools i got accepted to. (niether of which are the school i wanted to attend) so im gettin ready for my day, all excited to miss school and visit some colleges. well i come to find out that today they had the every 15 minutes thing today. THE ONE IVE BEEN EXCITED FOR FOR A MONTH. i didnt know it was today, but i knew it was this month. well i was pissed, obviously, but i kept a positive outlook, ya know the whole "this is my future" thing. well visiting these schools only confused me even more! and i am really pissed that i missed that thing! everyones talking about how cool and eye opening it was. everybodys saying "oh ill never drink and drive after seeing that"... WHAT THE HELL? you thought it was okay to drink and drive before watching that simulation?? NO! ughhh...... i am sooo irritated. its like i miss anything/ everything remotely entertaining at that dang school.
and the thing that really sucks is that this isnt the only mildly interesting thing i missed this year. i also missed homecoming for volleyball. the carnival and the game. and my best friend was a queen. and oh yeah, its my senior year and that was my last one. gahh. well. this didnt help at all and only got me even more irritated, but hey, it was worth a shot. mr palo, if you actually read this whole thing, i am sorry. i guess this will prove that i actually do have emotions, i just never show them in your class. okay. well. bye.

'Sophisticated Pot- Growing'

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/authorities-find-pot-growing-operation-crestline-san-bernardino-county.html

There was 237 marijuana seedlings and cloned plants found in a Crestline home today. These plants were grown in a so called 'sophisticated manner,' meaning they were in a room with temperature controls and growing lamps. There was also a small amount of methamphetamine found in the same house. The one thing I found funny about this article was that it said this man was arrested on 'suspicion of cultivating marijuana and possessing methamphetamine.' I thought all of this had already been proven when they found the weed and meth in his house. Apparently thats not proof enough.

San Diego couple arrested on suspicion of stealing toys from Christmas toy drive

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/san-diego-couple-arrested-on-suspicion-of-stealing-toys-from-christmas-toy-drive.html

So this couple was arrested because apparently they stole toys from the Ronald McDonald House donation box in the lobby of a credit union branch in San Diego. That is so pathetic. Really? If you're going to steal, don't choose to do so from a donation center. And for underpriveleged children? So sad.

Lybia Cartoon

cocaine saturated ropes.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/federal-officers-seize-ropes-saturated-with-cocaine-at-lax.html

Federal Officers seized ropes and cords saturated in cocaine at LAX on March 15. They were inside the backpacks of two U.S male citizens, ages 20 and 21, who were from Panama City. They said they bought them at a swap meet and were going to use them on his fishing boat. They were both arrested because, well, they had cocaine covered ropes.

Discussion Reflection

Many things were mentioned during the discussion on Wednesday and the one thing that most, if not all, of us agreed upon was the need to get rid of tenure. I strongly stand by this because I really do not understand why we need tenure. I think that if a teacher really loves what he/ she does then there would be no need to solidify the job. If a teacher does a horrible job at what he/ she has gone to school to do then he/ she is obviously in the wrong field of work and should be fired. I brought up the idea of merit pay and how I thought it was a good idea until someone disagreed with me. She said that a teacher shouldn't have to be rewarded for doing their job and I honestly agreed with this.
Another thing we discussed was how students should be given more freedom, such as having a bigger variety of classes and different times to take the classes, kind of like college. I think that if we were given these freedoms it would either be a hit or miss. I personally would use this to my advantage and take a variety of courses in the day time to help me find what I want to do with my life. But on the other hand, there would be the students who would take easy courses and would completely mess it up for everyone else.
One topic that we didn't get to touch on was No Child Left Behind. I really did want to get to the topic, but we ran out of time. I feel that NCLB should be abolished. It does no good and I find it pointless. Why should a student be able to slide through grades 1-11 and do nothing, then during their senior year they have to make everything up. Its not fair for the students who actually try and also isn't fair for the students that are just being bumped up to the next grade. They shouldn't be made to think that they can get through life doing the bare minimum. The sad part is that becomes the harsh reality when they are sitting in the bleachers watching their friends graduate.

Nude man caught on security video prowling around an LA preschool

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/nude-man-caught-on-security-video-prowling-around-la-preschool.html

Well this is a really creepy story. So this dude was caught on video parading around a preschool lobby naked, engaging in *cough* strange behavior of the sexual nature. This article was updated and it was found out that this man actually forced his way in and was looking for expensive things to steal. He stole a few keys and some other stuff. Then he proceeded to rip off his clothes and parade around the lobby. Creeeepy...

Snake bites model's bust, dies from silicon poisoning

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/mad-mad-world/Snake-bites-models-bust-dies-of-silicon-poisoning/articleshow/7715176.cms

Okay, so this model, Orit Fox was doing a photo shoot with a big snake in a dress that showed off a bit much of her cleavage. She wanted to make the pictures even more... sexy? Unique? I dont know what she was aiming for when she decided to lick the snake, but she licked the snake. Well the snake was not happy about this and decided to bite her in the breast. Fox was rushed to the hospital and lived, but the snake died from silicon poisoning. Ironic? Yes.

After 20 years, finally set free.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/after-20-years-in-prison-man-set-free-after-witnesses-recant-testimony-in-murder.html

A man who has spent 20 years in jail for a murder he says he didnt commit is expected to be released after several witnesses reacanted their identification of him. Apparently 5 of the 6 witnesses, including the vicitms son, recanted their identification of him as the murderer. I think this is a very bittersweet story. This man is getting out of jail and he will be free, but it took 20 years for that to happen. "Franky (the convict) is going to have some life and some freedom, but he lost so much," said Linda Starr, the legal director of the Northern California Innocence Project, which worked on the case.

UCLA condemns video criticizing Asian students

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/ucla-condemns-video-criticizing-asian-students.html

I chose this article because I actually watched this video last night via a post on Facebook. I think its crazy how fast things can spread. The video was this annoying girl, who gives white people a bad name, saying all these rude, inappropriate things about the Asian students who attend UCLA. Spokesman, Phil Hampton stated that they have seen the video and they feel that many of the comments made were offensive and contrary to the values of UCLA. In my opinion, i think this girl is an idiot. Why would you post something so racist and rude on the internet, where everyone can read it?? I understand everybody has their opinions, but frankly, nobody needs to hear about your racial views. Honestly, I dont even know how this girl got into UCLA.

Killer Bees Attack San Diego County Man

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/killer-bees-sting-san-diego-man.html

A 40 year old man was taken to a hospital after being attacked by killer bees while doing landscaping. The man had an allergic reaction to the bee stings after being stung about 10 times... ouch. He managed to run up to a liquor store for help and thats where the firemen found him. Im guessing he didnt die because this article mentions nothing about death... which is good. :]

California Schools Shortchanged??

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/california-redevelopment-agencies-shortchanged-schools-review-finds.html

So this article states that California schools were shortchanged around $40 million by redevelopment agencies. Governor Jerry Brown proposed to eliminate municipal redevelopment agencies as part of his budget plan and that will be voted on by the Legislature. This article also mentioned that Palm Desert spent public mone ymeant for fixing up slums on a luxury golf course. I find this extremely irritating considering the schools need that money. It seems like these are the people complaining that the schools dont have enough money, but then when they are given the money to help schools, they waste it on useless luxuries. I really think that Palm Desert couldve gone with out the golf course. The article then went on to discuss the topic further.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Id have to say this is one of my favorite poems.

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.


"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.


Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.


Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.


Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.


When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

L.A. School Board to Shut Six Charter Schools Caught Cheating

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0302-lausd-charters-20110302,0,1573991.story

The Los Angeles Board of Education voted Tuesday to shut down six charter schools that were accused of widespread cheating on last year's standardized tests. Apparently the Crescendo founder/executive director, John Allen, told principals and teachers to prepared their students for the tests by showing them the actual test questions. When asked if he actually had done this, he denied, but was demoted. The principals were given 10 day suspensions. I actually find this quite bizarre considering that this man should be the one encouraging students to try hard and not cheat. I do not think its fair that Allen was only demoted, i think he should be fired completely. And any of the principals that listened to him and followed his orders should be fired, as well.

Raves at L.A. Coliseum!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/state-agency-official-dismayed-over-lack-of-answers-about-raves-at-coliseum.html

So there apparently have been raves at the LA Coliseum. Wierd right? I know. The chairman of the board of directors for the state agency that serves as landlord for the L.A. Memorial Coliseum Commission was very shocked and dissapointed because of the lack of answers concerning the rave parties being held at its venue. According to the artice, Robert L. Stein, chairman of the California Science Center and Exposition Park board, said that an events manager with the Coliseum commission also was paid by a rave producer to have raves there. Coliseum general manager Patrick Lynch, knowing about the whole thing, resigned after this revelation. Not only do I think the people that were allowing this to happen are stupid, but I also think the 'ravers' are stupid considering they actually went to a rave in a coliseum. I think it is very dishonorable and rude to throw a giant rave in a coliseum, but it seems like the men responsible were punished.

Motorist wanted to 'have fun'

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/motorist-who-drove-in-reverse-for-three-miles-wanted-to-have-some-fun-police-say.html

Woah. This is wierd. Okay so this dude, Gurgen Gukasyan, was caught driving in reverse on North Glendale Avenue for three miles. 'Why?' you may ask. Because he wanted to have fun. He was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving. The really funny thing is that he was completely sober. I guess it wasnt too bad, considering it was at 6 in the morning, but why?? I dont know, he probably didnt even think it was a big deal, and the more i think about it, the more i think it isnt that big of a deal either. The article said nothing about him driving on the wrong side of the road or was he going the wrong way on the street; he was just going backward. But still, I dont quite understand why he did it.

Obama on Wisconsin

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-wisconsin-unions-20110228,0,5538517.story

In this article, Obama addresses the ational Governors Assn. on what's going on in Wisconsin. He states that it does no good 'when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon.' One thing about this article i found very odd was that apparently the Wisconson Assembly's 14 democrats fled to Illinios, making it impossible to have a quorum. That sounds so childish... and annoying. Walker gave them 24 hours to come back. He stated that if his proposals weren't passed, the state would be unable to finance part of its debt, leading to some layoffs.

Why would someone do this?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/burned-cat-long-beach.html


Okay, so this isnt really an article, but this really caught my attention. Some heartless soul in Long Beach set a living cat on fire. The police are still trying to find who the person was. How could someone do that? Few things irritate me, well thats a lie, and cruelty to animals is definately one of them. I never understood how someone could do that to an animal. I dont know, maybe the cat attacked the person, but that still is no reason to set it on fire! The cat was examined and later euthanized.

state of the union wordle

I do not have the snipping tool, so here is the link to my wordle.


title="Wordle: state of the union"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3131753/state_of_the_union"
alt="Wordle: state of the union"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

Jobs: This is improtant because many people in America are lacking a job and the inancial security of which it provides.
Together: This word stood out to me because i feel it is very important to stay together during hard times.
Economy: The economy is in crisis and it is of dire importance that we discuss the problem and the means to which we can improve.
Technology: The key to our future lies in the acceleration of technology.
Education: America is no longer the top dog when it comes to education. We need to focus more on it.
Giffords: This tragedy is a very important topic because it shows how the Democrats and Republicans need to work together.
Believe: We need to believe in America in order for it to be successful.
Tucsan: The tragedy at Tucsan was important because it showed how in true hardship, America can come together to solve a problem.
Family: I found this word to be rather touching because America must work together like a family to have success.
Hope: Hope is an important aspect to have when rebuilding a nation.
Challenge: It is going to be very difficult to rebuild America to be as great as it can be.
Recession: Because of the recession, America must come together to get back on top.
Dream: America is full of dreamers and that is why it is the best country in the world.
Responsibility: Responsibility is an important factor in rebuilding a country.
Opportunity: We live in the country of opportunity and that was stressed all throughout the speech.
Progress: America is showing quite a bit of progress, but we need to show even more.
Cuts: A lot of Americans were impacted by pay cuts.
More: We must do more, be more, achieve more to obtain success.
Future: We must fix the mistakes of the past to better the future.
Change: America has faced many changes in the past but our willingness to accept change is what makes us strong.
Sacrifice: America must sacrifice in order to be great.
Deficit: America must solve the deficit problem.
China: China has surpassed us in the realms of education and technology.
Innovation: With innovation on our side, America will surpass the nations that are ahead of us.
Imagination: America's future relies on the imagination of it's youth.
Edison: America needs more people like Edison.
Facebook: Facebook has become a network to connect friends and ideas.
Internet: The internet symbolizes the innovation of America.
Sputnik: This is our Sputnik Age.
Budgets: Obama has set budgets for the government to insure that they don't over spend.
Energy: One of the main focuses of America is clean engery.
Reinvent: America is reinventing itself after an economic downfall.
Money: Although Oboma didn't mention the word 'money', the entire speech did revolve around it, in a sense.
Youth: The children of America are going to be the leaders ofthe future so we must give them good educaton.
Diploma: Obama stressed how important it is to have a high school diploma.
Teachers: Without teachers, we would not have many, if not all, of the great people that help build America.
Congress: Congress' effort in sitting together at the State of the Union Address show who they are ready for change.
College: It was stressed through out the speech that college is very important.
Success: America must grow as a Nation in order to have success.
Immigration: Obama wants to stop illegal immigration completely, but almost sympathized with the hard working children of immigrants.
Better: America may be getting better, but it can always be better.
Taxes: Obama constantly went back to the topic of taxes through out the speech.
Debt: America is in quite a bit of debt, but we are working hard to get out of it.
Health Care: Health Care is a big issue in America and Obama pointed this out in a humorous manner.
Fix: Not only did Obama talk about fixing the economy, but he also talked about fixing many other things.
Freeze: Obama froze domestic spending in order to help America get out of debt.
Spending: The government is spending more than it should.
Democrats/ Republicans: Although these were two different words, I feel they should be discussed together. Throughout the speech, Obama talked about how they must work together.
Investments: America must invest in the youth in order to have a better future.

Sex offender arrested after reading to students at elementary school

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/sex-offender-los-altos-elementary-.html

This article pretty much talks about how a 56 year old retired Army major was reading to a group of kids at a "heroes day" event in honor of Veteran's Day. This man was registered as a sex offender in 2000. I think this is really sad. This guy did something stupid 11 years ago, did his time, and now he cant even read to children, with other adults present, at a "heroes day" in honor for people like himself? He didnt do anything wrong at the event, and he was arrested for it. I dont know, maybe i misread the article, but that doesnt seem too right.

Health Care Discussion Reflection

Health care is a very confusing topic for me. It seems that no matter what we decide to do, we will still end up pissing someone off. I personally feel that we should have universal health care, just because I feel that there are more people who would put it to good use than people who wouldn't. But I can't help but think about all those people who don't even bother to keep themsleves healthy; why should they deserve free health care? But then I think about all those poor families that are busting their butts to stay alive, they do deserve to have health care.
The big question is "how are we going to pay for universal health care?" I just figured that it would come out of our taxes, but there are quite a few people who would not be happy with that, and they have a point. Why should we have to pay more for other people? Especially those who don't eve care for universal health care? It seems like if we spent less money on thinks like prisons, we would have a lot left to put toward universal health care. Why to criminals deserve to have everything they have when good, innocent Americans can't even afford health care?!
Like I said, I am very confused about this whole universal health care reform, and i know i don't know everything about the reform, but i do feel that we should have universal health care.

UCLA gets $100 million donation

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla-gift-20110126,0,6822484.story

This wasnt much of an article but it did catch my eye. This huge donation was a gift from Meyer Luskin. According to this little article, half of it is to go to the School of Public Affairs to support teaching and research in public policy, urban planning and social welfare. The other half will go to an on campus hotel (which is weird) and a conference center.

Two Teens found dead in Huntington Beach with empty can of Four Loko

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/two-teens-found-dead-in-huntington-beach-with-empty-can-of-four-loko-and-other-alcohol-drugs.html

Two teens, Aaron Saenz, 15, and Chelsea Taylor, 16, were found dead in a vacant Huntington Beach appartment with an empty can of Four Loko, a caffeinated alcohol drink on Friday just after 10 in the morning. Police Lt. Russell Reinhart stated that the two died of drug- and alcohol-related causes, but the coroner's office won't confirm this. Further information was not released because the investigation was ongoing. Four Loko has been banned in certain states because of health warnings, but California is not one of them.

Health Care

I do not have an article or a video for this one because I am basing this more off of the video we watched in class.

While I was sitting there watching the video, it really opened my eyes to how expensive health care is in the U.S. When that man said that he had a heart attack in Vegas and it costed over $60,000 to stay in a hospital for 8 days. I think that is ridiculous, especially considering that in Japan it costs TEN DOLLARS to stay the night in a hospital. I know there was the constant reminder that no country's health care was perfect but, boy, that sure seems a lot better than ours. I mean yea, their taxes are higher, but you don't hear about anybody going bankrupt over across the pond in England or even way over there in Japan. I would definately like to give their health care plan a shot.

Jon Stewart

"Tonal Recall," Jon Stewart. January 17, 2001.

So in this little piece from his show yesterday he talked about how the Republicans and the Democrats are now going to sit together at the State of the Union. I liked how Jon Stewart made the comment "how many of us have to get shot for you guys to go to lunch?" I think he makes a great point. I also thought it was silly when how instead of calling the health care reform "job-killing" they Democtrats wanted to change it to "job destroying" because thats soooo much better. (sarcasm.)


http://www.thedailyshow.com/
(because i could not figure out how to make the link part of the title.)