Current Event #4

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/05/world/europe/bosnia-romeo-juliet/index.html

In this chilling tale about Admira and Bosko Brkic, two lovers were killed due to political conflicts, during the Bosnian war, 20 years ago. Admira was a Muslim, while Bosko was Serbian, and even though they were a couple before the war had begun, their love was still seen as forbidden. Even though their parents looked past their heritage, they were still looked down upon. One day, they decided to leave the country so they can live in peace, but as they were escaping they were shot by a soldier. No one could cross the border for days, but finally 8 days after, someone made a proper burial. Though Admira’s family couldn't watch the funeral, since they were prohibited, Bosko’s family could. They were buried in a large cemetery, side by side to show how their love lived on past their deaths. Both families are still close, and both keep pictures of their kids all over their houses remembering the war and all the suffering it brought.

This connects with the theme of love. These two people loved each long before it was seen as forbidden, and even after their love survived with them. Furthermore, it connects with the idea of destiny because, in my opinion, it was destiny that their names still live on, and they are known as the Romeo and Juliet in their city, long after they are dead. In other words, their love is still alive, long after they are dead. It also relates with what a tragedy is. Their love wasn't seen as bad in anybody’s eyes except for the soldiers that shot thousands of people in the war. No one saw it coming, and it wasn't as if they were hiding it from others either; they just wanted to live a peaceful life outside of the country. This also shows injustice because both families weren't political at all, yet they still suffered the consequences of war, which is tragic. The biggest theme that it hits is long term feud. Though it didn't occur in the families, it occured in the war, and I think in this case, the long term feud was buried. No one speaks of the war anymore which shows the regrets between the people.

Current Event #3

Two teens, Alexandra Hollinghurst and Brandon Goode, had killed a police officer before killing themselves, in Orange County in 2011. Alexandra was devastated when she was torn apart from her boyfriend when he went to jail and she letters to him.

Alexandra also had a lot of trouble with her mom, and in her final notes before running away with Brandon, she called her many things and even said that she vomits every time someone compares them. On the contrary, her notes to her father and sister were kinder and she thanked them for the time that she had with them. Respectively, Brandon had apologized for all the bad he has done in his life to his parents, and soon after they were both missing.

They killed a police officer before killing themselves 100 yards away with a gun. The couple wanted to be together forever, and didn't want to see the consequences of what they had done. Brandon had a history of being violent and using drugs, so Alex’s family accused him of killing her before killing himself.

This story relates to the theme of love, which means willing to go to the extremes of being together, though I don't agree with killing someone else because of love. This also relates with justice. The couple showed a great injustice when killing a police officer that was soon to be married just because he was doing his job. This also relates to long term feuds being buried because the mother of Alexandria always thought Brandon was a bad influence, and in this case I don't think it will be buried. She blames him for the cause of her daughter’s death and brainwashing her. This also relates to how someones actions may reflect someones personality. Alexandria was a stubborn person. She continuously fought with her mother for things that she should've been grateful for. Furthermore, if she wanted something she would do anything to get it, hurting her loved ones. Brandon, on the other hand, was violent, no doubt. He had almost killed his mother twice, and his life ended short when he killed himself. This was their destiny. I believe everything in their lives happened for this moment, where their names will be remembered forever. This, in itself, is a tragedy. They were people that could've changed their destiny and reroute their lives, but they didn't, and they both ended up dead.

Current Event #2

Daniel Peirce, a 20 year old gay male, was disowned by his family after he came out to them as gay. They abused him both mentally and emotionally and told him to leave their house, in 2014. He lived in Georgia with his conservative family where he came out to his parents and recorded it. He then posted this video on Youtube named, 'How not to react when your child tells you that he’s gay' and within days he received thousands of views.

In this video, multiple family members are recorded, but the first says that she wants to disown him because he is unnatural; not of God's creation. He speaks to her calmly and tells her he will leave while she yells at him. The next appears to be another female physically assaulting him, where his Grandma is in the background cheering her on. This family is Christian and believes homosexuals have chosen this path and they furthermore didn't want the community to see that they are supporting homosexuality. Daniel set up an online donation site for himself to try and find a new place, and surprisingly he received over 50,000 pounds.

Love doesn't always have to be between lovers. It is between a parent and their child too, and this wasn't a symbol of love. Love is being able to accept the other regardless of beliefs. Its being able to allow their flaws and accept that they may not be what you want. Justice is treating everyone equally regardless of race, beliefs, or nationality. In this instance, the family is not only taking his safety away by physically abusing him, but they are showing injustice through not respecting his beliefs and kicking him out of their house. This event, I believe, is fate. He was assaulted by his family, and he probably believed that life couldn't get better. Fortunately for the kind people all over the world who sent donations, he is probably having a much better life than he ever did with his family. This was his destiny to follow this path and end in a much better place.

This relates to Romeo and Juliet because of the theme of acceptance and family. Romeo and Juliet were not accepted as lovers because they were of different families. Furthermore, their own family didn't accept them and thought they were choosing the wrong path, as Daniel's family did.

Current Event #1

Current Event

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2044057/Tragedy-modern-day-Romeo-Juliet-The-lovers-driven-suicide-Iranian-regime.html

This article is about a man and woman, living in Iran in 2013, who were in love, but soon found themselves in jail because they were friends with who fought against the government. Nahal Sanbi and Behnam Ganji were thrown into a jail because they were friends with a human rights activist and because they were seen as anti-government. Iran is a country where the rules and laws are to be strictly followed with no exceptions. Furthermore, it was said that Ganji was tortured and raped in the jail cell, where he was only imprisoned for eight days. On the other hand, Nahal, detained for three days, was said to have been threatened by the jail guards for rape and dishonor. Soon after Ganji was taken out of jail, he committed suicide, due to depression and the constant fear. Sanbi, obviously devastated, wrote on her blog about her grieve and committed suicide four weeks after. Her last post on her blog was, ‘So it’s Thursday again. Come, Behnam. Let’s dance together on Thursday once more.’

In this case, love is not being to live without the other, quite literally. These two had went through a lot in that jail cell, and to see that both killed themselves due to the mistreatment is awful. Justice is respecting someone regardless of their beliefs, and to throw someone into jail because they don't completely agree with the government is a great injustice. Not only that, but they were thrown into jail for simply being friends with someone, which in my opinion is ridiculous. This story was indeed a tragedy, since these two strong people were found dead due to suicide. Also, was it fate that they were supposed to kill themselves together? Or was it their free will? I believe it was fate because their story is now being shared throughout the internet, letting their love continue long after they are gone.

Math Opening Problem

• Is the data categorical or quantitative (numerical)?

Quantitative data because it deals with numbers.

Why was the data collected like this?

It was collected for the purpose of seeing the data for the heights of grade 10 girls; the average, the median, mode, range, etc. It was also made to see the similarities and differences between the girls' heights.

• Is the data discrete or continuous, and what are your reasons for making your decision?

Continuous because it can be in between heights; it's not one whole number, it could be a decimal. For example, 168.7 cm.

• What does the height 140 - 149 actually mean?

It means that the height is somewhere between 140 and 149. Most of the time we used the middle of the number when graphing. For example it would be between 144.5.

How should the data be displayed?

It should be displayed how it is displayed now - in a table where you can clearly see the range of values and frequencies. Later, one may be able to put this data into a graph, and look at the patterns there.

How can the shape of the distribution be described?

The data is positively skewed, meaning the parabola will be leaning slightly to the right.

•  Are there any outliers in the data and how should they be treated?

To see if there are any outliers, one should use the formula (IQR*15) + UQ or (IQR*1.5) - LQ. Outliers distort the data and messes with it so it isn't accurate. Outliers should be removed from the data altogether, although when making a box and whisker plot they should be marked with a symbol to show that they are outliers.

•  What is the best way of measuring the centre of the height distribution?

Sketching a graph and seeing where the median stands. Either that or looking at the data and dividing by two to get the median.

What measure of the distribution’s spread is appropriate?  
It depends on the information, but usually counting by fives but only writing the tens increments is appropriate because you can get in between the lines perfectly.

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History BlogPost

Why did the constitution allow slavery to continue, if the Declaration of Independence claimed that ‘all men are created equal’?

The constitution allowed slavery to continue while the Declaration of Independence claimed that all men are equal because when they are talking about ‘all men’ they are talking about rich white men, and not keeping slaves in consideration. Those who were part of the Articles of Confederation were rich white men, so those who would be creating the Declaration of Independence would also be men trying to help themselves. John P Kaminski, a historian, said that all of the movements that people created never worked because they weren't passionate enough for it. “The men at the constitutional convention never considered getting rid of slavery. The revolutionary talk of freedom and equality had been left behind.”  No one really tried enough to banish slavery, since they didn't really know what it felt like to be a slave. Another quote from Kaminski states that Americans were more passionate about keeping their ‘private property’: “Americans in general and all the men... wanted a united, well ordered... in which private property - including slave property - would be secure.” William Freehling, another historian, said that though the founding fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, had broken through the barriers of racism, but he still believed that whites were superior to blacks. “Jefferson suspected that blacks had lower intellectual abilities than did whites.” So though he did ‘fight’ on their side, he still believed they were inferior, which caused them not to include the slaves in the population. In conclusion, when writing in the Declaration of Independence that all men were equal, they were speaking of rich white men, and not the slaves who were part of the population.

Social Studies

To what extent did the French and Indian War make the Revolutionary War inevitable ?

The French and Indian War made the Revolutionary War inevitable to a great extent. The French and Indian war was where the Indians and French teamed up together to fight the British and the colonists. If the British won, they would receive land from either Canada or the Caribbean. Since, the British won, they got control over Canada. This war made the revolution inevitable because the results of the war caused the colonists to be angry. After the war, Britain had a large debt that they couldn't pay off easily. Therefore, they raised taxes to an extreme amount, when the colonists hadn't been paying any before. Furthermore, winning the war meant more land for the farmers, but Britain passed the Proclamation of 1765, which restricted settling into anywhere past the Appalachian mountains. This was an outrage because that was why the colonists were fighting in this war, to gain land over the Indians. To have a restriction against what they rightfully earned was an outrage. Another thing that Britain did to make the revolution bound to happen was raise many new laws that took away the freedom of the colonists. For example, there was the Quartering Act of 1765 where colonists had to house soldiers. This meant feeding them, and treating them as there own child. This was very bad because the colonists didn't have much money after the war, not receiving land, or paying extra high taxes, so their mouths were more of a priority but instead they had to house soldiers. Another act that was passed was the Stamp Act of 1765, which made you stamp all documents which costs lots of money. Obviously, all these reasons would cause tension between Britain and the colonists, therefore the revolution was inevitable to a great extent.