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It doesn’t make any sense that I have one week of Marching Band left.
Forever.
Last night was essentially my last Friday night football game, ever. At least for High School anyway. We killed our opposition, 42-0, setting the Aves up as dominating playoff contenders. It was also Senior Night for the band, football team, and cheerleaders. But wow, it sure didn’t feel like it.
After this weekend’s parade of competitions, I have a lot of one’s left. One Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday practice. One more competition. Then, that’s it. the door shuts, curtain closes, lights go out on my marching band “career”, so to speak.
We had our traditional Senior dinner last night, which was a blast, of course. But for me, it didn’t really feel like a Senior dinner. It just felt like a particular group of band members were being treated by the directors, despite being treated with “07″ cupcakes and adorable table directions reminiscing our past four years of marching. It’s just not quite falling in to place yet.
My college applications are being reviewed as we speak, scholarships are knocking my rhetorical door, yet it feels no different. Something just isn’t there.
I don’t really know what it is, or when it’ll happen, perhaps when I walk across the stage or walk out the school doors for the last time as a student, just maybe.
“It is indeed ironic that we spend our school days yearning to graduate and our remaining days waxing nostalgic about our school days. ” ~Isabel Waxman
One flaw and one disbeliever can be all it takes to end human civilization as we’ve come to know it. A man who wishes to follow in his father’s footsteps, not to be outdone, stands behind us and the use of nuclear explosives.
North Korea has threatened use of nuclear power and truthfully, no one, no country, really ever believed them or their threats. And now, as North Korea threatens war, many US officials are still saying we aren’t in danger.
So I will run you through the bare basics of just exactly what goes into the makeup of a nuclear bomb. (Guided by a Newsweek article.)
NOTE: I AM IN NO WAY PROMOTING THE CREATION OF A NUCLEAR BOMB OR THE LIKE. I AM IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ACTIONS TAKEN FROM THE INFORMATION GIVEN. Please, don’t be stupid. Thanks!
Nuclear bombs are created with plutonium pits, known as PU-239 and decayed uranium. The PU-239 has to stay balanced in order to produce what is considered an effective blast. Something many scientists and researchers say is challenging to do.
High explosives known as lenses help create the implosion of PU-239 that kick starts the process of fission. But lenses have to detonate precisely together in order to create a shock wave that will destroy the pit evenly from all sides. Any flaw in a single lens could completely disrupt the entire process.
But in order to achieve the “big bang”, North Korea would need to split the greatest possible amounts of plutonium atoms. Layers of metal referred to as pushers/reflectors, push escaping neutrons back into the fission core, holding the exploding dice together.
The current foreign minister of South Korea, Ban Ki Moon, has said he is willing to take his own initiative if necessary, offering to visit and meet with North Korea leaders. Pressure has also come from China, who has apparently threatened to cut off massive oil supplies if more nuclear tests were conducted by North Korea. But the Chinese aren’t just giving lip, the government as apparently cut off bank transactions between China and North Korea as well. The US has employed sanctions and cut off financial assistance in an attempt to stop the process, but North Korea has in turn, refused to conduct talks until all sanctions are lifted. But the USA has received support from various countries, including Russia recently, to continue sanctions against North Korea.
My take: The US CANNOT back off from their sanctions against the country. Doing so would only enable them to continue testing and “participate in talks”. We’ve talked to them plenty enough as it is, there’s no more time for talking, no more second chances. North Korea needs to be heavily cut off from the world until they agree to back down on use of nuclear power, or the testing of.
Every football team in the NFL has experienced a heartbreaking loss at one point or another. The Cincinnati Bengals had one of those losses tonight.
It came down to 13 seconds and Bengal’s kicker Shayne Graham was sent out to go for the 62 yard field goal attempt. He missed it and Tampa went wild. What is being considered a horrible officiating moment also occured when Bengal’s defensive lineman Justin Smith was penalized for “roughing the passer” after having simply tackled the quarterback.
As if a loss like this isn’t hard enough, a lot of Bengals fans are going overboard with accusations. Some say get rid of the offensive coordinators, the defensive coordinators, no, let’s just get rid of Carson Palmer or Chad Johnson. The crazy suggestions just continue to boil over as the loss sets in.
Some are even saying the Cincinnati Bengals should just throw in the towel, let their season go. I think that is completely all kinds of stupid. I am well aware we’ve lost twice in a row..but do any Bengal fans out there remember when we were saying we’d be lucky to go 3-2 with Carson coming off of an injury? Where did that optimism go? Why are so many fans ready to give up? I don’t understand it.
My #9 jersey is back on the hanger, waiting for next Sunday. My Bengals desktop is still in tact, and I’m all for a good WHO DEY. I’m not giving up on our team and I doubt I ever will. Okay, maybe the Super Bowl isn’t realistic with how we’ve been playing. That I can give to the negative nancy’s-BUT, that doesn’t mean it’s completely out of reach. The Ravens lost and Pittsburgh finally got their first good game of the season. Don’t fret, dear whodeyians, it means nothing. One good game doesn’t determine a season, just as two losses aren’t the end of the world.
So every Bengal’s fan that isn’t giving up, can I get a WHO DEY!
It seems that after High School, every graduate always has that one class that they really enjoyed, the class that made them think and challenged their viewpoints on a unique level.
I’ve been wondering when that class was going to come my way. Sure, I’ve had a few classes that I’ve really enjoyed above others, along with teachers that I absolutely adore to this day, but they weren’t nearly on the same level as the classes I’m about to discuss.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have two classes my Senior year; two classes that challenge me every day, that cause me to stop and go, “Wow.” One of these classes is Government, the other is World Literature.
My government class is taught by one of the best teachers I think I’ve stumbled upon so far. When we debate, she plays devil’s advocate and forces you to either continue to defend yourself or go, “Well, I didn’t think of it that way.” There are several issues, such as making marijuana legal, that I figured I was pretty sure of, my opinion was set in stone, no big deal. Thanks to my teacher, I’ve stopped being so close minded. I’ve seen the other side of the grass, you could say. A lot of people who declare themselves to a political party refuse to believe anything that their political party doesn’t, they close their minds to being strictly Republican or Democrat. I feel sorry for those people, they’re missing out. The class has helped me become more informed of overall government and legal issues, how voting works, how I’ll vote when I’m old enough, etc..etc.. I almost wish it was a year long class instead of a semester, I’m sure I’d benefit from it.
Next, World Literature. I’m sure someone will read this, perhaps even someone from my class, and go, “WHAT? You’re insane.” Something to that effect anyway. But really, it’s an amazing class. I’ve become 110% times the writer I was before this class. It’s also run by a teacher who forces you to be confident in yourself, pushing you to give your answer regardless if it’s right or wrong. Instead of babying us and walking us to the answer, we’re pushed to actually find it ourselves, to evaluate our thought process. Instead of just reading a book, we’re learning how to appreciate it. My papers are eons better than they used to be, without a doubt. I’m more structural when I write papers now, I evaluate everything to a fine point, knowing that it’s going to make all the difference. I now dictate every word, period, comma that goes down on my paper or screen.
So I challenge any High School or College student out there to find that teacher, to find that favorite class, to be honest with themselves even though they’re telling their friends school sucks. I challenge those past College to remember that one special classes, or those special classes, when you came upon that one moment that spun everythingaround 180 degrees.
Yet another political mayhem has stolen headlines across the world after Republican Representative Mark Foley was discovered exchanging sexually layered emails to teenage boys working as congressional pages.
As the FBI begins an assessment to see if there’s been a “violation of federal law”, Foley confirmed all doubts when he suddenly quit Congress Friday, soon after original reports appeared detailing the situation. Democrats began making charges that some House leaders may have already known of the inappropriate emails, but made no move to stop it.
Tony Snow, press secretary for the White House, publicly urged for efforts to, “figure out what happened here”. Snow also made a point in saying how unfortunate it was that people were trying to and would succeed in gaining a political advantage over the debacle. Republicans are in a fight to maintain House majority in the upcoming election and many fear that situations of this nature will not play out to their favor. Democrats are appalled that anything of this nature would occur so quietly, many saying that they are nervous it was so well hidden.
Republican leaders responded to accusations by saying that they realize it is their responsibility to ensure pages safety and that they are considering adopting new rules on communications between lawmakers and pages.
I say: In the overall outline of this situation, political party means very little. Mark Foley’s actions can be done by anyone, political affiliations aside. I will never understand why someone would do what he did. It just doesn’t make any sense.
