A Country In Hysteria

          A devastation to our nation, our government in its power could have easily arranged for September 11th to be a tragic day. So, if they did know about this horrific plan was to be attempted, how could’ve they prevented it? “There exists a government within the government of the United States,” Bin Laden said to the idea of a smaller unit within the United States government that actually had knowledge that terrorism was to take place.
          Dick Cheney, the head of the air force defensive flights, had heard about the hi-jacked planes and was to release defensive systems.  These ‘systems’ had worked flawlessly the last 67 times they were called upon in 2001.  So, why on maybe the most important time to defend did they simply launch?  Some say that it may have been bad luck or a fluke, others would disagree that he was part of the ‘government in the government’ and purposefully commanded them to stay down.  Let’s not forget that this same man published a handbook, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” that stated “the process of transformation even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event-like a new Pearl Harbor.”
          There were no doubt others involved including a man Larry Silverstein.  He signed a 3.2 billion dollar contract (99 year lease) on the entire World Trade Center 6 weeks before the event.  Of course, this contract was not shy of a 3.5 billion insurance policy specifically for terrorist attacks.  So, some of the top workers in the Pentagon happened to cancel their flights the day of the attack.  Even Willie Brown, San Francisco mayor at the time, received a call informing him not to travel by plane on September 11th which came specifically from the National Security Advisor.
Fast forward to the day of the massacre, American Airlines Flight 77 makes a successful 330 degree turn at 530 miles per hour which would crash into the first floor of the Pentagon.  Later, this was claimed to be an impossible ability by an Air Force pilot at this speed.  High G maneuvers of that kind would’ve made the plane fall out of the sky.
          Other well known incident of that day, the Twin Towers, has also many flaws in its story.  Skyscrapers of that height are built with high grade steel that could withstand a 150 year storm.  So how could a little plane do so much damage?  Exactly what Kevin Ryan was asking.  ‘Experts’ contradicted the idea by saying the heat caused the towers to collapse, not any post-hit tampering.  So days after, Kevin Ryan was mysteriously fired by an unknown source.  A live TV show was hinting at the idea of them seeing a second explosion after it hit and directly after the tower folding in on itself.  This explosion was referred to as a ‘secondary device’ by the Head of Safety.  Also known as, a second bomb detonating.   
           It would take numerous people to carry these plans out, but with the government bathing in power and it’s plentiful connections worldwide, so it seems too easy for something like this to happen again.  Now we have the growing worry of the safety of our children and great grand children.  The government doesn’t seem to care though, they just wanted to jump start our country.  In further futures, year 3000, will history repeat itself just to awaken a new century?  Another arrangement, another life loss, another way to drive our country spiraling into hysteria.

   

Flaws of America

Flaws Along With Perfect Changes

Calista Bulacan

7^th Grade

Patriots Pen Essay

Mrs. Reagles Hour 2

"Tis’ done, we have become a nation," Benjamin Rush had quoted so long ago.  Men shaking hands and cheerful shouts arising from the stands.  Smiles stamped on faces, some fake and some real.  Worry was behind most smiles for they knew something some didn’t: mistakes were inevitable. 

Mistakes, the sweet sound of what can only make you better.  Not banning slavery though was quite fatal though and cost many lives to be lost, many people overworked, and many humans to be treated unfairly.  Moreover, the right for women to vote was omitted.  It could have been the simplest thing as forgetfulness, or merely not knowing any better.  Either way, this caused an abrupt stop in time while women fought for their rights.  The apex of the flaws comes to be unfairness.  If any given number of constituents vote for one person; if one of the people running in the election get s one more vote, he therefore wins all the votes for that states.  That contestant therefore will have replete votes, even if they weren’t for them.  I think they would’ve needed to change these to have successfully created a ‘perfect’ Constitution.

Yet, the constitution wasn’t all imperfections.  I mean, the Constitution is what made America what it is today.  Also, it set out a very basic guide for government that even in the present we follow.  Overlooking all the flaws, this document is what conjoined thirteen states into one family.  This action is why we can all get along today and have no civil wars. 

Thank you, founding fathers, for helping America get a kick start and progress forward to ensure the eventual future for our generations.  Even though the Constitution wasn’t unblemished, it  shaped the USA into quite the country.   We did become a nation though, a beautiful and strong country.  We will never be done perfecting, but we will forever be united.

The Conflict of 451

Fahrenheit 451

Author's Note:  We had to identify the conflict and resolution in a book during LA.  I used the book Fahrenheit 451 as my example.


Guy Montag in the beginning knew of no love. There wasn't any grieving, someone died? Burn their body, forget of their meaningless soul, start a new life.  Nobody was ever to be missed, only forgotten.  Books were the outlaws and firemen were the officers.

Clarisse moved in and showed Guy what the world was intended to be.  The books were supposed to be read, even though it may have been difficult to understand, they had important life values.  This is the moment in which Montag went against the world.  He was to set out on a mission to have people understand how to have feelings.  To peel their eyes away from their parlor families for one second to see what the sun was telling them, 'Don't burn," the sun would've said, "I am already doing that."
No one helps Montag, but he does it on his own.  He finds his own group to help him through this; people like him who have realized the true meaning of the way to live.

Without the Volunteer

Authors Note: In LA we had to analyze a story of our choice and choose an event and explain the conflicts leading up to it and how it would change the story if it didn't happen.

Hope.  Luck to, but mostly hope. That's how life was in Panem when Effie arrived with the bowl of names.

Katniss promised Primrose that she wouldn't be picked, it was impossible. When the picking of the tributes came the words "Primrose Everdeen" escaped Effie's lips too naturally. A thousand eyes found their way to Primrose slowly walking through the crowd.  "I volunteer!" Shouted a girl from somewhere beyond the stage.  Primrose turned and with one look saw that Katniss had just volunteered to meet with death face to face.

Why risk her life?  What was the rising action that led her to have to be entered into the Hunger Games?  That cold morning, she shoved her nervous feeling down deep inside her and told Prim that she wouldn't get picked, that it wasn't possible.  So when Effie announced her name, guilt set in and caused her to want to take her place.  Also, with Katniss' mother already depressed with the killing of her father she knew she couldn't let Prim die too.  Katniss knew she at least had a chance to win, so she took the chance.

If this didn't happen, if Katniss didn't volunteer, no one would have.  Primrose would have been sent to the capitol and  she would have been targeted as a small and weak child.  Surely someone whom they would want to kill first.  When the Hunger Games started, without the hunting skills Katniss had developed, she would be killed very early in the games.  So, by Katniss volunteering it resolved a problem AND saved a life.

This reminds me of Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451.  Guy didn't volunteer for anyone but he did represent someone. He might of not realized it until the end, but the whole time he was representing not only Clarisse, but all the poor souls trapped in plastic people.  Much like Montag, Katniss didn't realize that she wasn't only representing her district: she was representing those who think the capitol is horrible, but can't rebel for fear of standing as a lone soldier.  

The Giver

By: Louis Lowery

The Giver is mostly person verses society. Jonas (and The Giver) are going against the government even though the government doesn't quite know it until the end. They secretly are plotting a plan to go against everything the government has made and give back the memories while The Giver still has energy to take care of the society afterwards.  They hope that this will pull the people out of the 'perfect' world they've been given to live with and change it just enough that people will remember the love that they do not know.  

The resolution I found was to be that Jonas would leave the town and set off to find another world and the farther they go the more memories are returned to the town.  This for sure will send the town into chaos, so The Giver stays behind to help them through this.  The government never found Jonas and never will.  So, the resolution isn't the happiest, but if you think about it-these people live in a twisted world of secret murders.  The Giver and Jonas' resolution was the best thing that could possibly happen.  And hopefully the government will realize that.

Un-Life Changing

The Un-Life Changing Event

Calista Bulacan

9/18/12

Mrs.Reagles L.A.

Memoir

To a little girl, outside is another location to get lost and explore.  You leave everything behind, your mom and dad, and you go and investigate this alien world.  Well, no question, this was my point of view of the world at three years old. 

                It was a party, a big family get together in California, and the dancing was in full swing. Hundreds of people crammed into a little park, known as a party hotspot.  My mother turned her back for a minute, greeting a relative she hasn’t talked to in a long time.  This is the moment I slipped out of her grasp, out of my restraint.  A three feet one inch child wasn’t exactly easy to find in a celebration like this.  Looking back on this, I could’ve told my mother I was leaving, but what three year old has the comprehension to do such a thing?  

                So, there I was, moving like a shadow in the night, unseen and as if I was nonexistent.  By this time, my mom had discovered I was missing and was now panicking, asking everyone if they have seen her kid.  I don’t remember if I had heard her or not, but I kept moving.  I was like a train unable to stop.  I finally maneuvered  my way of the party and was now out in the middle of trees with fall leaves beginning to crumble and fall.   Not turning to look back, which in this case was a bad idea.  I laughed, amusing myself by stomping on the leaves.  A slight breeze had begun to blow, and I realized I desperately wanted my sweatshirt.  A quick turn to run back in and find my mom, but now, I saw there were three different parties all right next to each other.  At my age now, I would easily be able to pick up which one was the party we were at, but my little self didn’t know and I wish I could’ve gone back and helped little me back to the party, but I can’t.  Time continued and I used my best problem solving skills (which, were not good at the time) and looked for someone to help me. Anybody.

                I watch the news on TV currently, see how kids are stolen, taken from their beds at night.  That could’ve, no doubt, been me when I walked up to a fisherwoman trying to catch a fish.

                “Excuse me!” I exclaimed tapping her on the shoulder, she turned to see me, “Excuse me!” I repeated.

                “Yes dear?” She asked smiling.  I pointed to the parties behind me, “What about those parties?”

                “My mommy is in one of them,” I explained my pigtails bobbing from side to side, “I’m lost.”

                “Your lost?  Well that’s not good now is it?   Can you tell me what your mommy looks like? Or what she’s wearing?” 

                I thought long and hard before coming up with an agreeable answer, “She has hair, and she’s wearing a shirt.” I was proud of myself for remembering this.

                “What kind of hair?” She calmly questioned.

                “The pretty kind.”  I answered.  The lady chuckled and took my hand to lead me to one of the parties to see if she was there.

                “Calista!  Cali!” shouts arose from behind us.  My mom, aunts, and dad were running to catch up.  “There you are,” my mom said pulling me into a hug.

                “Hi mommy,” I said unamused.  I didn’t realize the relief she was feeling at that point and the relief I should’ve been feeling too.  The lady who had originally helped me kneeled down.

                “Well, I know your name now, nice to meet you Cali.  Just so you know, next time don’t ask a stranger. You’re lucky I’m actually a life guard,” she pulled her badge out of her front pocket and revealed it to my mother. I didn’t know what the badge meant, or why everyone was so happy, but I was just happy to have been running around and having fun.

                “Mommy, I’m hungry.” I boldly stated.  Three words that were so irrelevant to the conversation at the time, but was enough to make everyone say thank you and goodbye to the kind lady and head back to get some food.

                There’s so many things you do as a child and don’t quite comprehend.  If we could only travel back and see what the past us was thinking at the time.  Why did I not feel worried?  How could I have forgotten what party I was at?  Questions arise everyday and if only….  crosses my mind every time my parents tell a story about me when I was little.  Maybe the child’s mind is supposed to be a wake-up call to the busy world.  They’re so carefree and happy, as some adults are so serious and secretly mourning over the death of their childhood.  So, overall, take a break and remember that pirate ship the couch once was.

EXTRA: (I called this the un-life changing event because, I wasn’t fazed at all by the event of being lost because it didn’t matter much to me, I just wanted food and my sweatshirt.  Yet, to others it taught them a lesson. So, to some it was life changing, to me it was The Un-Life Changing Event)

Uncovering Secrets

The School For Dangerous Girls

 By: Eliot Schreffer

Author's Note: We had to re-tell the story other than summarizing it and telling unneeded details.  This book has action, adventure, and mystery.

A girl is admitted into the infamous School For Dangerous Girls after accusingly 'murdering' her grandpa. Throughout the book she is constantly being pressed for information about the day she committed homicide and how her relationships are with the other girls in the school.  Finally, in the end she uncovers the secret that this school was hoping would never be enlightened.

9/11

Question: What do you know about 9/11?

1)On 9/11 terrorists boarded a plane. After a little bit they killed the pilot and took control of the plane, using the microphone to tell the victims. The first plane hit one of the towers and set it on fire. People were trapped upstairs trying to get down 1/4 stairways that are in the corners of the buildings. Then a second plane hit and firetrucks were wailing outside. The towers finally collapsed leaving dust to cover the streets and people dying that were on the top floors still trapped. Firemen searched for people in the trash afterwards to find missing people. They now have built a memorial in their place.

Question: How did this event effect people's lives?

2)9/11 impacted our lives by making many people realize how important it really is to live life everyday and to always forgive, because I'm sure some of these people died with regrets. We can't control when terrorists come and attack, but we can control how we handle it. And America got up and dusted themselves off. We came back and used this event as a learning period. How fast life can come and go.

Making Assumptions

"Look Twice Before You Leap"

-Charlotte Bronte

My interpretation of this quote is that before you jump to conclusions, solutions, or assumptions; double check that what you have concluded is true.  If you don't, and then start assuming, people could get hurt or wrongly accused.  Also, you yourself could lose friends from this common mistake.

So, what Charlotte would probably try to say is just check twice before you say or do something. Think of the future and how it could affect it. And I can't take credit for all the words I've just said, Charlotte said it first. She just explained it in 5 simple words. "Look Twice Before You Leap"