Please choose one rule and explain why you think that rule will be important in your post-high school life.

All the rules are true and should all be taught to students. Rule 11: Be nice to nerds, chances are you'll end up working for one, is definitely be important in post-high school life. This rule is referring to those kids in class who are always quiet, but they get all A's and do all their homework. Usually these are the kids who get picked on or have a very little social life. How ever they are the ones who accomplish everything in life and start their own companies, becoming very powerful, rich, and successful. Chances are if someone bullied a nerd, who later on became a multi-millionaire of his own company, that same bully comes to the nerd looking for a job. The bully better hope the former nerd is either A, very forgiving and put the bad times in the past, or B, doesn't recognize him or remember anything that bully ever did to him. If the nerd is neither than the former bully has no chance. In other words be nice to nerds, because they will most likely be the ones signing your pay-check in the future.

Do you think the U.S. needs to address its gun control laws?  Why or why not? How can they be improved or why are they ok just the way they are?

   Yes the U.S. needs to address its gun control laws, because clearly guns have been causing a lot of problems for us lately. The gun control laws should be more strict so guys like the one in Connecticut, don't go around shooting little kids or other people. If people are carrying guns around even when they aren't suppose to it's pretty obvious that the law isn't working and they need to step it up a notch so people know that we are serious about this.

Do you think this software should be legal?  Why or why not?


No this software should not be legal, because for one thing it's creepy and stalkerish. Another reason is that you can record text messages, call log, physical locations and visits to website and that is violating someones privacy. They have no rights to look through others stuff unless they have a search warrant that was ok'd by a judge. This software's going to get people in to a lot of trouble and should definitely not be legal.

     In The Adventure of the Crooked Man, Holmes and Watson are discussing the murder of Colonel James Barclay. It was said that his wife and he were having an argument in the morning-room, but the maids and coachman had no clue what had happened because the door was locked. The coachman had the idea of running across the lawn and climbed through the open window, only to find his master dead, Mrs. Barclay had fainted and the key was gone. The only logical explanation the police can come up with is that Mrs. Barclay had murdered her husband by hitting him with something in the head.
     After searching the crime scene, Holmes concluded that there was a third person involved, who had climbed through the window. The third person had a pet, that's paw prints could not be identified. Since neither Mrs or Mr. Barclay had the key to the door, that meant the third person had taken it when they had escaped.
     Holmes later interrogated Miss. Morrison, who had been out with Mrs. Barclay before the murder. Miss. Morrison told Holmes that Mrs. Barclay and her had been passing through Hudson street when they met a crippled man with a box, who Mrs. Barclay knew and had thought been dead for a long time. They had stepped aside to talk and Miss. Morrison said that the man was angry as Mrs. Barclay left him and that Mrs. Barclay had told Miss. Morrison not to tell anyone of what happened.
     The man who Mrs. Barclay had talked to was Henry Wood and Holmes claimed that he had followed Mrs. Barclay home after she left him and when he was watching Mr. Barclay and Mrs. Barclay through their window, what ever was in his box got loose, explaining the paw prints and why the key went missing.
     The next day, Holmes and Watson go down to Hudson street to talk to Henry. After hearing Mrs. Barclay is being tried for murder, Henry confessed to being responsible for Mr. Barclay's death. He told them that he had once been Colonel Henry Wood the smartest man in the One Hundred and Seventeenth foot in Bhurtee, India. Mr. Barclay and Henry had both loved Mrs. Barclay, but Mrs. Barclay had only loved Henry, how ever her father wanted her to marry Mr. Barclay. They were stuck in Bhurtee and Henry volunteered to inform General Neill about the problem, but he was betrayed by Colonel Barclay and captured by the enemies.
     Henry admitted to following Mrs. Barclay home, saw her arguing with Mr. Barclay and broke in, influenced by his feelings. The sight of Henry, was such a shock to Mr. Barclay and he died of apoplexy, hitting his head against the table as he fell. Mrs. Barclay fainted and Henry took the key, intending to unlock the door, but ran when he heard noises, afraid he'd be accused of murder. The paw prints belong to Henry's mongoose, Teddy, who had slipped out of his box. Henry was not guilty for killing Mr. Barclay, Holmes said it was basically said it was his way of getting back at Mr Barclay for betraying him.
     

Do you think Michael should be allowed to live in the manner which he has chosen?  Why or why not?


     I think Michael should be able to live like he is. It's not bothering anyone and he's not breaking any laws, so I don't see why he shouldn't. So yeah he should just keep doing what he's doing and live the way he wants to.

Do you think the punishment fits the crime?  Why or why not?  Should cultural and religious beliefs factor into justice?

I really don't think that the punishment fits the crime. Getting the death penalty for making an anti-Islam film is really going over board in my opinion, I mean if people don't like the video then don't watch it. Cultural and religious beliefs shouldn't factor into justice because people have different beliefs and it'd be even more difficult to decide a punishment.

In your own words, what is restorative justice?  How does it work?  Do you think it is something we should practice here at SPHS?

Basically restorative justice is having a person, who did something wrong, (in this case vandalism) own up to what they did and clean up the mess they made. In the article, John went back to the taco shop he spray painted, apologized to the owner and fixed the problem he had caused. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and practice restorative justice at the South Portland High School. It seemed to work out pretty well for that guy John in the article, so maybe it would help for us to practice at the high school. How ever I don't think that anyone one in our school has given us a reason to practice restorative justice, but I guess just to be sure, practicing this would be an ok idea.

 Which side do you agree with? Why?

     I think that justice is something that was created by our population, but could never truly exist. In most comments from those who say there is justice the statement "what goes around comes around" is said in many forms. I don't think these people understand that a lot of the time that doesn't happen, criminals are smart and can get away without any punishment. We can try to create and enforce justice, but we can't do that if we don't even know the meaning of it. "I don't understand how a man can kill his baby, and then do less than four years in prison. Yet, another man can rob a store with a toy gun, and get nearly a life sentence." This was posted by someone who doesn't believe that justice exists and they are right. For some reason the punishment never really fits the crime, like it is said to. Therefore I do not think that justice really exists, unless we can truly understand fairness.

Do you think searches should be conducted based on a drug-sniffing dog?  Why or why not?


     In my opinion searches shouldn't be fully based on drug-sniffing dogs, mainly because the dogs not always right. It says in the article that only a 12% success rate for dogs in a controlled setting, meaning that the other 88% isn't a success. I think that the police need evidence of drugs before they bring in the drug-sniffing dogs, so that way the searches are based off a bit of both.

  In my opinion Batman should kill the Joker, obviously nothing else is working. The Joker escapes jail, Batman catches him and puts him back in and then the cycle repeats itself. ". . . he killed the second Robin. . . killed Lieutenant Sarah Essen." So it's pretty clear that the Joker's got some issues and after killing so many, it's oblivious that nothings going to change, therefore Batman should just kill him.

 Of Mice and Men Essay Introduction Paragraph

    There will always be moments when two friends argue, but arguing is sometimes what makes a relationship so much stronger. In the novel, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie criticize each other multiple times and threaten to leave. However they always stay together in the end and that’s because they care too much about each other. The proof is everytime Lennie says he’d leave George alone, George would beg him to stay and George cares too much about Lennie to leave him, and everything he says to Lennie isn’t because he’s mad at Lennie. Also, George never left Lennie until Lennie was dead. George isn’t mad at Lennie because he’s holding George back, George is mad at himself because he doesn’t know how to leave Lennie and move forward. Instead of just saying so George takes his anger out on Lennie and blames him instead of himself.

Write a paragraph describing how this article was helpful.


               This article was helpful, because it gives examples of how to write a good essay for school. It give tips on how to write a good introduction, which is often how a reader decides whether to read on or not. In the article, it says that the three middle paragraphs should elaborate on the point being made. Then it talks about the conclusion paragraph and how it should restate the introduction paragraph. So basically the article is helpful, because it helps students get good grades on their assignments.

Write me a paragraph explaining what you need to do in order to be ready to give your presentation to the class on Wednesday.

      We need to have our presentation on migrant farmers ready for Wednesday. Projector for our computer so we can give the presentation. We have to practice for the presentation, to make sure we don't forget anything. Practice things like making eye contact, remembering what we need to present and not to get nervous when presenting.

 Do you think the parents who allowed this party to happen are guilty? Why or why not?

    The parents who allowed this party to happen and let the teenagers drink are guilty. They are supposed to be responsible and prevent things like this from happening, not encouraging it. Even worse, the parents lied and said they didn't have drinks at the party instead of taking responsibility for their mistakes.

In the article it is questioned if the kid should go to jail for life or not after murdering his two year old sibling or if he should be given a second chance. In my opinion that should not be questioned and the boy should face life in prison. What he did was disturbing and wrong  and though he is only thirteen he should be charged as an adult. The reason he should be charged as an adult is because he knew what he did was wrong and is old enough by now to know good from bad.

Summarize chapters 3 and 4 in Of Mice and Men.

      So basically in chapter three Of Mice and Men, Lennie gets in a fight with Curly because Curly was upset. During the fight Lennie hurts Curly really bad on accident because he was scared and didn't know what he was doing. Curly has possibly broken all of his hand, which isn't good considering he fights for a living. How ever Curly promises not to say anything, most likely because he is scared of Lennie.
      
      In chapter four Of Mice and Men, Lennie goes into Crooks' room trying to make friends with him because George is out with Slim. How ever he isn't aloud in Crooks' room because Crooks is black. After that it all goes down hill and Curly's wife comes in and throws a fit about how she can easily get rid of Crooks. Then George comes back and as usual he fixes Lennie's problems.

What is the cause of the so-called bacon shortage?  How bad of a problem do we really face?

         The cause of the bacon shortage is the current drought that has limited the food supplies for pigs. I think that the problem we are face is pretty bad, considering that many people rely on bacon and pigs. Whether it's because they eat it or because they make it, it effects a lot of the population. 

Please write a paragraph explaining the characteristics of a good presentation as detailed by the article.

        There are a some good characteristics of a good presentation. First of all in a presentation should not have too many effects because the audience will get distracted and lose track of what the presenter is trying to say. Secondly, give handouts to the audience at the end of the presentation instead of having them take notes. Lastly, if a long statement can't be put into bullets read them off a note card or just put all on the presentation just not at the same time. These are some good characteristics of a good presentation.

We have talked about justice a few classes in a row.  For today's blog, please research the definition of justice and rewrite it in your own way. Provide an example to support your definition.


   According to Dictionary.com, justice means the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause. If I were to define justice, I would say justice to do the right thing no matter what the situation is.

Do you think justice was served?

     No, I don't think justice was served. It's not fair that Cindy Lee Garcia had no idea she was playing a role in such an offensive film. Even if she wasn't in the film the video should be taken down because it is anti-Islam. The video only causes more trouble and doesn't do anything to help anyone and the idiot who made the video should be sued.