Thursday, August 18, 2011
"The One Word that can Save Your Life" Term 3 LA ACE
During reading period today, I read an article in the Newsweek magazine entitled "The one word that can save your live". The article heading was very catchy and intriguing. It prompted me to read on further. I was on how some common tests and procedures aren't just expensive, but can do more harm than good. My parents have told me quite a number of times why they were so unwilling to bring me for X-rays or go for scans as they are afraid of the amount of radioactive waves passing through your body. However, this is the first time I ever came across such an article. I felt that it is very informative and people from all walks of life should read it. It helps people to make important decisions and make people think twice before making a decision whether to do the scan. Some people in the society are not that educated and do not really know and should require articles like these to guide them. Doctors should also be well informed in this issue and recommend scans according to the patient's current state and even if the patient insists, then he should explain to the patient.This way, the number of lives lost due to excessive scans would be reduced. Moreover, people can get worried unnecessarily as the scan result can be very dubious at times. I t may seem to spot insignificant shadows and giving the patients a possibility that he/she has a tumor. This could be just a false alarm after many other checks or a regressing tumor. therefore,these can also help patients relieve their pains and worries and they do not have to pay extra.
IN-CLASS ONLINE LESSON #12 (Term 3 LA ACE)
The common theme between the three casket scenes is appearances and reality. Firstly, the Prince of Morocco was the first person to take the test. He was prejudiced and felt that gold was always the best and felt that that suited Portia the most as she was the best. Therefore, he was unable to see through appearances at all and chose the gold casket. In the scroll, it reminded the Prince of Morocco that "All that glisters is not gold". Secondly, the Prince of Arragon is being compared to a fool as he prided himself on being able to see through appearances, however, failed at the test as he assumed that risking was not good and thus chose the silver casket. Lastly, Bassanio came along and chose the leaden casket as he "choose not by the view Chance as fair, and choose as true."
Step 2:
There was once in my primary school, I really wanted to join a really cool group of friends. They were hanging out playing games such as soccer and computer games everyday after school. I really wanted to join in the fun but they said that I had to pass the criteria to get in.
Firstly, I went through an interview. They said that I was too wimpy and was unable to join them unless I did one of their "jobs". They did not like my best friend Jeremy and wanted me to back stab him. After hearing that, I got a shock and was in a lost for what to do. I did not dare share it with my other friends for fear that it would spread to Jeremy. Therefore, it was up to me to consider the situation.
I could not bring myself to back stab Jeremy by stealing his wallet ans required by them. However, I had been begging them for so long to let me join them and also did not want to lose the opportunity to join them. I thought long and hard about it using logic and came to a conclusion: I would not back stab Jeremy. i weighed the positive and negative implications of my actions and decided that the group that I wanted to join was made up of people of negative influences and ai could not afford to lose a good friend just because of such an incident.
This is one example of how I used logic to make a difficult decision. Thanks to this decision, I have not regretted it and Jeremy has been one of my greatest friends.
Step 2:
There was once in my primary school, I really wanted to join a really cool group of friends. They were hanging out playing games such as soccer and computer games everyday after school. I really wanted to join in the fun but they said that I had to pass the criteria to get in.
Firstly, I went through an interview. They said that I was too wimpy and was unable to join them unless I did one of their "jobs". They did not like my best friend Jeremy and wanted me to back stab him. After hearing that, I got a shock and was in a lost for what to do. I did not dare share it with my other friends for fear that it would spread to Jeremy. Therefore, it was up to me to consider the situation.
I could not bring myself to back stab Jeremy by stealing his wallet ans required by them. However, I had been begging them for so long to let me join them and also did not want to lose the opportunity to join them. I thought long and hard about it using logic and came to a conclusion: I would not back stab Jeremy. i weighed the positive and negative implications of my actions and decided that the group that I wanted to join was made up of people of negative influences and ai could not afford to lose a good friend just because of such an incident.
This is one example of how I used logic to make a difficult decision. Thanks to this decision, I have not regretted it and Jeremy has been one of my greatest friends.
Blog comments
On the Library Blog---Mass Book Borrowing:
I really like the Mass Book borrowing as I feel that it does not require us to fork out precious time to borrow books, which is one of the main reason why some of us are unwilling to go to the library to borrow books. The Mass Book borrowing also gives us a chance to ignite the interest of reading by exposing us to a wide selection of books. Cultivating good reading habits is very important in our learning process and by carrying out Mass Book borrowing, students are being encouraged to read and increase their general knowledge or improve their literature skills. Thus, I feel that there is no harm in carrying out more of these activities to help us in our Language Arts
ON the Library Blog---Big Book Sale:
I really enjoyed the book sale as I managed to pick up some good book that i had been wanting to read but cannot bear to fork out the money. The prices at which the books were sold were very attractive and the best thing is that the more books we buy, the more money the school has for the Needy Pupil fund. This is a win-win situation where the students are being encouraged to read while the Fund also gets support. Therefore, I support the big book sale and hope that the school library would continue to hold these events. I feel that the big book sale really gives us the opportunity buy a few good books that are beneficial to us but would not cost us too much. It was unfortunate that I was unable to go on the first few days and by the time I went, there were very few books left.
On Jun Liang's LA Blog 2O409---LA Speech:
I feel that this is a very good topic to have a speech on as it is very rarely discussed despite its severity. It reveals many loopholes in our society that causes people to fall through the cracks and turn to become extremists. It is very relevant to us as even though Singapore may be as peaceful as Norway, incidents like these can still happen. This is especially so when there are terrorists not too far away targeting Singapore in Indonesia. Ideals may spread to some of our troubled youth and brainwash them into committing rash and insane acts like the gunman in Norway.
On Wei Han's LA Blog 2O419---Online lesson #12:
I agree with your views on the three casket scenes and feel that you have raised valid examples to support your stance. Such as "You that choose not by the view" which was said in the script after Bassanio chose the leaden casket. Your essay was also very interesting and it had a very nice plot. however, your sentence structuring and the way you express yourselves could be better to bring out the mystery of your story and make use of tension and suspense to keep the reader interested to read on and find out the outcome.
On Zhengyan's LA Blog 2O432---LA speech:
I feel that your speech is very balanced as it explores both sides, and ultimately come to a conclusion. I agree that Osama should not be put on trial as there is very few incriminating evidence that shows that he is guilty of killing or planning. Therefore, the US cannot afford to make a mistake and let go of him again by capturing him alive and put on trial. I also feel that your point about bringing Osama back to the United States is very dangerous and that would endanger the lives of the Navy SEALS who took the mission and also the terrorists might launch an counter-attack. Therefore, I feel that your argument is very valid and solidly shows why Osama should not be shown mercy and put on trial.
On Wei Jian's LA Blog 2O407---LA speech:
Your speech has many valid points, however, they are inadequately supported with evidence. Most of the evidence were only present in the first two paragraphs. Moreover, your last point was not very correct as the United States wanted to follow the customs which required disposing of the body as soon as possible. Thus, even if the people do not believe that Osama had died, there was nothing the public can do. Lastly, I feel that your view on not letting pictures or videos to be taken was mainly because if these videos or photos were released, they would be helping the terrorists to spread their cause and gain public sympathy.
I really like the Mass Book borrowing as I feel that it does not require us to fork out precious time to borrow books, which is one of the main reason why some of us are unwilling to go to the library to borrow books. The Mass Book borrowing also gives us a chance to ignite the interest of reading by exposing us to a wide selection of books. Cultivating good reading habits is very important in our learning process and by carrying out Mass Book borrowing, students are being encouraged to read and increase their general knowledge or improve their literature skills. Thus, I feel that there is no harm in carrying out more of these activities to help us in our Language Arts
ON the Library Blog---Big Book Sale:
I really enjoyed the book sale as I managed to pick up some good book that i had been wanting to read but cannot bear to fork out the money. The prices at which the books were sold were very attractive and the best thing is that the more books we buy, the more money the school has for the Needy Pupil fund. This is a win-win situation where the students are being encouraged to read while the Fund also gets support. Therefore, I support the big book sale and hope that the school library would continue to hold these events. I feel that the big book sale really gives us the opportunity buy a few good books that are beneficial to us but would not cost us too much. It was unfortunate that I was unable to go on the first few days and by the time I went, there were very few books left.
On Jun Liang's LA Blog 2O409---LA Speech:
I feel that this is a very good topic to have a speech on as it is very rarely discussed despite its severity. It reveals many loopholes in our society that causes people to fall through the cracks and turn to become extremists. It is very relevant to us as even though Singapore may be as peaceful as Norway, incidents like these can still happen. This is especially so when there are terrorists not too far away targeting Singapore in Indonesia. Ideals may spread to some of our troubled youth and brainwash them into committing rash and insane acts like the gunman in Norway.
On Wei Han's LA Blog 2O419---Online lesson #12:
I agree with your views on the three casket scenes and feel that you have raised valid examples to support your stance. Such as "You that choose not by the view" which was said in the script after Bassanio chose the leaden casket. Your essay was also very interesting and it had a very nice plot. however, your sentence structuring and the way you express yourselves could be better to bring out the mystery of your story and make use of tension and suspense to keep the reader interested to read on and find out the outcome.
On Zhengyan's LA Blog 2O432---LA speech:
I feel that your speech is very balanced as it explores both sides, and ultimately come to a conclusion. I agree that Osama should not be put on trial as there is very few incriminating evidence that shows that he is guilty of killing or planning. Therefore, the US cannot afford to make a mistake and let go of him again by capturing him alive and put on trial. I also feel that your point about bringing Osama back to the United States is very dangerous and that would endanger the lives of the Navy SEALS who took the mission and also the terrorists might launch an counter-attack. Therefore, I feel that your argument is very valid and solidly shows why Osama should not be shown mercy and put on trial.
On Wei Jian's LA Blog 2O407---LA speech:
Your speech has many valid points, however, they are inadequately supported with evidence. Most of the evidence were only present in the first two paragraphs. Moreover, your last point was not very correct as the United States wanted to follow the customs which required disposing of the body as soon as possible. Thus, even if the people do not believe that Osama had died, there was nothing the public can do. Lastly, I feel that your view on not letting pictures or videos to be taken was mainly because if these videos or photos were released, they would be helping the terrorists to spread their cause and gain public sympathy.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Book Review---Things Fall Apart Term 3 LA_ACE
During the Big Book Sale in Hwa Chong Kong Chian Library, I bought this book "Things Fall Apart" as I thought that it would be interesting. It proved to be a good book.I had one problem with it though. The names were very complicated and difficult to remember. A brief summary of the book : The main character of the book is Okwonkwo. He was very angry at his father's weakness and wanted to be more like a man. He aimed to be one of the most successful man in the clan.However, he was very egoistic and proud. One day,all his dreams are crushed when he is exiled from his tribe when he accidentally killed his clansman when his gun exploded. When the Westerners landed on Africa, Okwonkwo was very unhappy and want ed to take charge.However, he was rash and killed a messenger, forcing him to commit suicide to escape being executed by the westerners. I find that this book is very intriguing and interesting as it is written by an African and gives us a wonderful insight to how life was like in the African tribes. It also offers multiple points of views such as from Okwonkwo's point of view and the westerners point of view. It is also a new topic as I have never heard of tribes and stories such as these. I have only read about the westerners side of the story where msot ofit is very peaceful. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
IN-CLASS ONLINE LESSON #6
Dear Mr Makihara,
Even though I can never understand how you feel about the earthquakes and having a constant fear that tremors and earthquakes would strike Japan. I agree that once someone is in a safety zone for too long, people would get complacent. It is the same here in Singapore. So far, there has not been any natural disaster striking Singapore except for some tremors from the quakes in Indonesia and thus Singaporean are taking safety for granted. I can see that the earthquake was a terrible shock to you as you had not been expecting it. Moreover, you were in a vulnerable place when the disaster struck---a train. There was no way that you could dive under a table or get into an open field. Fortunately, the earthquake was not too serious in the area and the train did not topple. When I read that the train was swaying right and left, I was shocked and never expected such a think would happen. God has blessed you indeed for letting you escale from your brush with death. I hope that youe would continue to able to keep you and your family safe from the forces of Mother Nature. I also hope that you would not to be too complacent. I would like to five my best wishes to you and your family to be able to be protected. I also hope that your family would be closely bonded and stick together in times of trouble. I also pray your son would understand the severity of an earthquake and be more understanding under such circumstances.
Yours Sincerely,
Jordan
Friday, August 12, 2011
IN-CLASS ONLINE LESSON #10 (Term 3 LA ACE)
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Muslim-Mob-Burns-Churches-in-Indonesia-115556249.html
This article is about the Muslims burning down a Christian Church in response to what seemed to them as an offensive flyer that was distributed by a man.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/23/us-norway-blast-idUSTRE76L2VI20110723
Narrative:
"Malaysia is for Malays!" the angry mob chanted as marched forward. The remaining Chinese scuttled away for safety as angry Malays begin attacking any Chinese or one who looked like a Chinese. Chek Siong was caught unaware and was now running for his life. He had no time to rest even though he was exhausted from being chased and had a wound in his leg after being hurt by a glass shard. His car had been set on fire and his only means of escape was through feet. He was terrified and never thought that the situation would escalate to such a serious problem in such a short time.
The death toll is been increasing and is currently more than 50. In Chek Siong's mind, all was lost. He did not even get a chance to say goodbye to his loved ones. He never expected that the Malays were such savages who were prejudiced against Chinese just because they tend to do better than the Malays. Chek Siong sobbed to himself. There was certainly no escape now, as he looked all around him. The mob was approaching toward him. Just then, someone tapped his shoulder, it was Ahmad, his best friend during the kampong days! "Hey brother, no use crying, come with me!" he took Chek Siong's limp hand and ran.
This article is about the Muslims burning down a Christian Church in response to what seemed to them as an offensive flyer that was distributed by a man.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/23/us-norway-blast-idUSTRE76L2VI20110723
The gunman, Anders Behring Brievik was against Muslims being in Norway and Europe, on the basis that the Muslims were destroying the culture of Europe.
Narrative:
"Malaysia is for Malays!" the angry mob chanted as marched forward. The remaining Chinese scuttled away for safety as angry Malays begin attacking any Chinese or one who looked like a Chinese. Chek Siong was caught unaware and was now running for his life. He had no time to rest even though he was exhausted from being chased and had a wound in his leg after being hurt by a glass shard. His car had been set on fire and his only means of escape was through feet. He was terrified and never thought that the situation would escalate to such a serious problem in such a short time.
The death toll is been increasing and is currently more than 50. In Chek Siong's mind, all was lost. He did not even get a chance to say goodbye to his loved ones. He never expected that the Malays were such savages who were prejudiced against Chinese just because they tend to do better than the Malays. Chek Siong sobbed to himself. There was certainly no escape now, as he looked all around him. The mob was approaching toward him. Just then, someone tapped his shoulder, it was Ahmad, his best friend during the kampong days! "Hey brother, no use crying, come with me!" he took Chek Siong's limp hand and ran.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Casey Anthony
Although Casey Anthony is highly suspicious and is the prime suspect, there is definitely not enough evidence to prove that she was guilty. It is unfair for the public to judge her just by their personal views. She could be innocent and yet, suffering under the prejudices of the public who see how as a heartless murderer of her own daughter. It is possible that the public does not really believe her story or feel that it is injustice to acquit her. However, I felt that there was no need for the public to be so malicious to her. Instead they should just keep their thoughts to themselves and give her the benefit of doubt. Casey Anthony was vilified both in the media and online; after the verdict was announced, the "I hate Casey Anthony" Facebook page received almost 39,000 "likes". I felt that that was very unnecessarily and since she was acquitted, the public should just let it be. There was certainly no need for such acts as there would not be any effect and it was also very cruel. It simply showed how the people lacked maturity in doing such childish acts. Since Casey Anthony was already acquitted, we should let bygones be bygones. Even if she did kill her daughter, the verdict would have no effect on us. This event has showed how unmerciful and unforgiving we can be as it is not even proven that she is the murderer and we are already treating her as though she was the greatest criminal of all time. If she had committed the crime, she should feel the guilt and suffer the consequences for it in the future but the consequences should not be created or her by us. And if she was totally innocent as she claimed, it would be the most unfair for her as she had been judged the moment she was suspected to be part of the murder and as though we all prejudiced against her even before the verdict was announced. There could be a third possibility that Casey Anthony was insane when she committed the crime or she was suffering from some psychological disorder the the moment when she killed her daughter such as depression. It could be a case where she really could not control herself and killed her daughter when she was not thinking straight. In conclusion, we should not have preformed judgement against Casey Anthony or any other person in a situation just like her for there is always a possibility that he/she is innocent and they do not deserve such treatment from us.
Rupert Murdoch
I feel that it is definitely not correct to participating in Murdoch's tabloid's new. By participating, we are contributing and encouraging people like Murdoch to commit crimes like hacking just to feed the high demand for "juicy" and trashy news. It can hurt many people by hacking phones and causing many people to lose their privacy. It is also very damaging to our society as we are being exposed to too much of this kind of news. It definitely in not beneficial to us as it does not make us more intelligent by keeping up to date with these unhealthy news. In fact, it is influencing the way that we act and think. It also makes us think that it is okay for the media to go to extreme means just to get sensational news and that it is something that we should always expect in our newspapers. This would mean that we are directly encouraging newspaper publishers such as Rupert Murdoch's News of the World to continue covering scandalous and gossip news as there is a high demand. These companies are only going to such extreme means to get coverage of trashy news because of us. It is because of us that they are continuing with such despicable acts just to satisfy the demand and earn as much as they can. On the other hand, if there is no demand from the consumers for these kind of unhealthy news and scandals, there would be very few companies willing to publish such material as they would be making a loss of they spend so much time and effort trying to hack into people' phones but not sell much newspapers. Thus, participating in such news by buying and reading it is definitely wrong and we should stop it immediately and stop it immediately before the hacking or other methods use get out of hand and cause even more people to get hurt physically or scarred emotionally.
Space travel
It may be a good thing as this would definitely be a huge and booming industry. Space travel and and exploration has always been a dream for all human kind. Many people on earth are definitely willing to fork out huge sums of money to have a taste of space travel. Instead of having just one government controlled company dominating the entire industry, having more private companies would increase competition and companies would strive for greater efficiency and competency in order to attract more customers.
However, opening space travel to the private sector might create even more problems and disadvantages that outweigh the advantages. Firstly, there would be the problem of safety. Space is a very dangerous area as any problem with the space shuttle and we might never be able to come back again as there is almost no margin for error. One small mistake can result in the lost of lives and disaster . For example, if companies are greedy and just in the name of getting a greater profit, they decide to cut costs and use inferior materials to construct the space shuttle, all our lives would be in danger. Thus, in this aspect, having a single government controlled agency such as NASA would be safer especially if it is based in the United States, a first-world country and more assuring in terms of safety. Moreover, many complex planning has to be done to ensure that the landing and taking off do not clash with other companies. It has to be almost like airplanes, except more stringent as the speed of the shuttle are much faster any mistake that results in a crash would mean huge losses in money and lives. Therefore, I strongly disagree with the idea that space travel should be open to private companies. I feel that NASA should continue its dominance over space travel as I am sure that it has h latest technology in space travel and most likely the safest.
However, opening space travel to the private sector might create even more problems and disadvantages that outweigh the advantages. Firstly, there would be the problem of safety. Space is a very dangerous area as any problem with the space shuttle and we might never be able to come back again as there is almost no margin for error. One small mistake can result in the lost of lives and disaster . For example, if companies are greedy and just in the name of getting a greater profit, they decide to cut costs and use inferior materials to construct the space shuttle, all our lives would be in danger. Thus, in this aspect, having a single government controlled agency such as NASA would be safer especially if it is based in the United States, a first-world country and more assuring in terms of safety. Moreover, many complex planning has to be done to ensure that the landing and taking off do not clash with other companies. It has to be almost like airplanes, except more stringent as the speed of the shuttle are much faster any mistake that results in a crash would mean huge losses in money and lives. Therefore, I strongly disagree with the idea that space travel should be open to private companies. I feel that NASA should continue its dominance over space travel as I am sure that it has h latest technology in space travel and most likely the safest.
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