words i have left to use

export
civil
clause
liberal
p.s. not a blog post

repsonse to Luis's post about college ready

        Viewer's discretion is advised

        Luis explains before this quote that college ready can mean a lot. For him, it means being responsible and tolerant of others. Tolerance makes the time at college peaceful and parents aren't around, so you have to be responsible. Independence is valued in college because you'll have to live near college. This is all what Luis said. Here's the link to his quote:

For example, maybe in high school you hated Biology. In college you can easily change your mind. In college you get to learn more depending on what class you’re in. Some great things about college are that you only have classes some days and you get to choose what classes and what time. Another great thing about college is that you only have to apply for about 2 semesters which is half a year compared to high school and middle school which are about three fourths of a year.

I believe that Luis is right about college being fun. He is correct about being able to choose classes and what time to take them. Being able to choose classes is brilliant because personally, I don't like writing essays and I will explain about that in my next blog post. Having the power to choose what time to go to class is a big plus. If you are not a morning person, you can pick classes in the afternoon or at night and vice versa. Also, the option to do that enables you to attend class around your schedule.
        I would like to elaborate on Luis's thoughts about independence. Being in college means you get to live away from parents. Wouldn't that be nice because they can only nag you over the phone and I'm not using myself as an example. You can stay up as late as you desire. This means more partying and less sleeping. This sounds a lot like a corporate retreat.
        Applying for two semesters also means that the year will be shorter and that is a plus too. No more 180 days school year. This also means more free time. How you want to spend it is up to you. Think of it as an extra long summer break.

response to The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino

        In The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino, all the dinosaurs except Q are extinct. Dinosaurs ruled the Earth fifty million years ago. Then out of nowhere, the dinosaurs die out. Q is an exception and he notices that a new species is growing up on Earth. Based on the story, I can see that Q is paranoid and dumb.

 "Then the situation changed-I don't have to tell you all the details-and all sorts of trouble began, defeats, errors, doubts, treachery, pestilences. A new population was growing up on the Earth, hostile to us. Thay attacked us on all sides; there was no dealing with them."(97)

Q is paranoid. He thinks that creatures tinier than him are attacking his species. Based on the story's descriptions, the new species seem to be weaker and shorter than Q. It would take a great number of these small creatures that Q describes to be able to subdue him. Even if they attack, they would need to be tall enough to get to his head to kill him. There are no mentions of weapons or humans, so they do not have the technology or aid to hunt a dinosaur.
        Q believes they are invincible, but they aren't according to this quote that follows.

"It was as if the New Ones wanted at the same time to defend themselves, to flee........."(105)

This tells they fear attacks and are perfectly vincible. At the end of the first quote, he says that there was no way to deal with them. This is certainly wrong as many factors can kill life forms. Disease and famine are two common causes. Natural disasters such as asteroid collisions can wipe out whole species. Q obviously hasn't observed what actually killed his kind.
        The dinosaurs were not killed by the small creatures if Earth. A recent article concluded that the only reasonable cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is an asteroid striking the planet. Q should have known something was wrong when there was a massive earthquake and when the planet cools because the sun is blocked out. He lists defeats, errors, etc. as the causes of extinction. These are all wrong and that is why I believe Q is a dumb creature.

predictions for the upcoming NFL season

        In this post, I will give you my predictions for the division champions, wild card, playoffs, and the worst teams. In the AFC East, the circumstances are difficult, but I pick the Jets to win this one.They have arguably the best defense in the NFL. That doesn't mean they have no offense at all as they can score a decent amount of points. For the afc north, I pick the steelers to win. They have a quarterback that led them to the Super Bowl two years ago. Afc south is a tough one, but I go with the colts. Peyton Manning is just too good. For the afc west, I'm hoping Oakland will win, but I believe the chargers will take the division like the past few years. Oakland, however, would pose the biggest threat to the chargers.
        To the nfc east, the giants take this one. Eli Manning (quarterback) brought his team to the Super Bowl within the last five years. The criteria to win the nfc north is huge, but I take the packers. They're building a great team around Aaron Rodgers. The afc south isn't such a hard choice. I choose the saints. They were champions last year. The nfc west is possibly the weakest division in football. The 49ers will be the team to beat. Mike Singletary will lead them to the playoffs.
        Wild cards would be the texans and the vikings. Texans are a surprise team and vikings will barely get into the playoffs.
        Winning the afc championship would be the colts. It would be a close one between the colts and the jets. Colts have great offense while jets have superb defense.
        Winning the nfc championship would be the packers. They would also be a surprise team.
        Super Bowl champion are the colts. They lost the Super Bowl game last year, but they will come back and win this year.
        The worst teams would be the browns and the rams. Browns just can't find a decent quarterback. Rams have a quarterback, but their offense and defense aren't all that good. Those are my predictions for the 2010 NFL season.

response to tony's post about obama's mad face

Here's a quote from tony's blog:

In this picture President Obama is angry. Notice how his eyebrows are lowered and brought in together making a reflection of the letter C. His eyelids are tensed, therefore making him look like he is squinting. His lips are pressed together creating those two curves that look like parenthesis ( ). As you can see he is very pissed off at something. This is what true anger looks like. Hope that clears everything up.

        Tony's statement is indeed true. Obama is quite angry in the picture. If you click on the link in the quote, you will see the picture. There are many aspects to feature. First off, his eyes signal an evil eye glare. He is staring intensely at something, maybe another person. It may be mistaken for some people that he is only squinting to see an object in the distance because he has no glasses on. This will be proved wrong as we examine more clues.
        His mouth displays an L shape. It is a straight line, hence his face displays seriousness. If he was happy, he would smile and the mouth would display more of a curve. Sadness would cause the mouth to bend into a C curve opposite of a smile. Here's a man with a smiley face.
        The eyebrows are very close to his eyes. That means he is straining them. In popular culture, \ / would represent angry eyebrows. If he got angrier, his and any angry people's eyebrows would definitely slant into the angle I described above with slashes.
        His suit makes him look serious. It tells he is all business. He looks very professional and his red tie is dark and gives a non-playful feeling. If he was happy, then he might wear some pajamas with a yellow tie or something like that. It looks like he is at an important event displaying more evidence of why he is serious and mad. I see a microphone near him which means he is speaking at some public event. If he goofed around a lot, then the audience would think he is crazy and didn't prepare for the speech.

10 words i kinda know

export
aspect
circumstance
corporate
criteria
civil
hence
clause

discretion
liberal

What's the hardest thing to do in sports?

        I'm basically going to write about what the title says. The candidates are scoring a goal in soccer, hitting a baseball, and catching a long pass while being covered in the game of football. I'm not going to include specific situations in sports like blocking a penalty kick because there would be an infinite amount of these difficult situations. I believe that catching a long pass is the easiest of the three, but I'm not saying it's easy. First of all, the pass has to be sufficiently accurate. The receiver then has to be able to catch it. If they have butter fingers, they might drop it. The football is a weird elongated shape and not a sphere. Lastly, they would have to avoid the guy guarding him.
        Scoring a soccer goal is second on my list. There are typically more defenders than strikers when the strikers have the ball and are threatening to score. That's because the offense and midfielders of the threatened team gets pulled back to help stop the attack. Players can't use their hands and must use feet coordination to be able to mount a successful strike. Communication and passing the ball is key because it's hard for one person to avoid all the defenders and drive into the goal. The striker then has to get pass the goalie and because the goalkeeper is well-rested and doesn't have to move around as much, he/she will be ready to block the ball.
        Hitting a baseball successfully is something you need eyes and luck on. The ball is very small, so there is a decent chance you will swing and miss. Major league pitchers also throw very hard typically reaching into the 90 mph range. That gives you a split-second to react. You have to make sure you get the pitch you hit well. Additionally, the sweet part of the bat is small compared to the whole bat. You could pop up or ground out if the ball makes contact with the wrong part of the bat. That's why even today's superstars only hit a .300 range average. That's less than half.

Response to Luis's blog about graffiti

Here's a quote from Luis's blog:

Some people might say that urban art or “graffiti” is bad for the community and for people. I do not think that urban art is bad for any reason. Urban art is not necessarily destruction of property, I think of it as more of coloring or decorating the city. Most of the property being painted is not even being used. I agree that urban art should not be done on important places such as religious places, cemeteries, and so on. In urban art, there are some rules.

        Luis is right about this controlled version of graffiti in that it is not violent and abusive as long as the people who are drawing follow the rules. Graffiti on unused property is legit because no one is using it so why waste it. If the graffiti harms valuable property then it becomes illegal because it would fit into the category of vandalism. Vandalism is not considered urban art because it does not decorate the city. Clearly, there is a difference between urban art and graffiti.
        The rules separating urban art and graffiti are important. That’s what makes them two totally separate things. It is explained not in this quote, but later in the essay that the writer can not draw on cars, religious places, houses, memorials, murals and of course schools. All of these are property belonging to organizations, the government, and regular civilians. They would not like it if they received a nasty surprise in the form of ink and color.
        I would just like to add to the rules that obscene pictures should not be allowed if you are an urban artist. It isn’t really decorating the city if there are nasty drawings on the walls. People and tourists visiting would think the city is full of bad people. Kids would be influenced as they grow up because they would see these everyday. Adding this rule will ensure strictness and still maintain fun for artists. I see Luis’s view on the subject and agree this stereotype does exist.

Devin Liu and Cristian Cortez       
        We should allow illegal immigration. It benefits the American economy more than it harms it. Also, Illegal immigrants are not always Mexican, some are from all around the world, seeking for a better life. Illegal immigrants do not pose a threat to the American government. They help support it by paying taxes and thus, keeping the economy healthy. They also take jobs that the American people don’t want. Another issue is the strict tests that immigrants have to take. If these tests where a little easier, then more and more of the problem of illegal immigrants will start to fade away. What we should do, as a country, would be to pardon all the illegal immigrants and let them live here. What is the matter if the next door neighbors are illegal? Now, in order to solve the immigrant problem, we should question why they are coming to America in the first place. Many want to find a better place to live and more opportunities. Our southern neighbor, Mexico, is a poor nation and many illegal aliens pour out of that country. If America were to collapse, wouldn’t we seek exile?