The Cuban Revolution in the eyes of a guy

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My character is a rich doctor who supports his family. At the start of his diary, he is an ardent supporter of Batista and believes that he is doing the right things for the country. Later on in the book, he realizes the truth but is it too late.

In the Cuban revolution, there was a change in government from capitalism to communism, segregation was destroyed, ties with the United States got destroyed, ties with the USSR increased, Agrarian law reform, free healthcare, increased literacy rates, increased infant mortality rate, increased mortality rate, etc.

 

 

Fidel Castros Child

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The Cuban revolution was a revolutionary act against the regime of Fulgencio Batista. The revolution started on July 26 1953 with the raid on Moncada barracks. Even though the raid was a failure it led to Fidel Castro being jailed and his famous speech “History will absolve me”. 2 years later he was acquitted and deported to Mexico where he met Chè Guevara and trained his rebellion. soon after he sailed the seas to get to Cuba to attempt to end the regime of Fulgencio Batista. After 2 years Fidel achieved his goal and became the country’s military general and president. When he was in power he made the first agrarian reform that let the people of Cuba have 4.02 km^2 of land,  Castro made a universal health care system which still is successful to this day, he raised literacy to 98%,  he also restricted foreign land ownership which made the US furious which lead to the Cuban missile crisis, etc. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a one-month, four-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union that turned into an international crisis after American missile deployments in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of equivalent ballistic missiles in Cuba. The conflict is widely regarded as the nearest the Cold War ever came to escalate into a nuclear war and was the end of the Cuban revolution. Fidel Castro died on November 26 2016 some people may remember him as a revolutionary person who brought equality and justice to the people of Cuba or a brutal dictator who executed and tortured thousands of people.

 

How One Mineral Paved The Way For Modern Civilization

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Few people realize that when we are generously showering our popcorn with salt, we are consuming two volatile and hazardous compounds. Of course, this is only the case when these elements, sodium, and chlorine stand on their own. Together, they form sodium chloride or table salt; one of the essential building blocks of human life.

This mineral’s vital role isn’t limited to our body’s chemistry but extends throughout human history. Salt was the first international trade good and such a precious commodity that it was used as an ancient form of currency. When we discovered it as a means to preserve our food from spoiling, we desired it even more.

Salt: A World History will enlighten and educate as you follow the journey of salt. From its extraction from seawater in ancient China to the Nile Delta in Egypt, where its meat preservation properties reached the next level in mummifying corpses, to ancient Rome where salt equated to power.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

  1. One of the wealthiest, ancient, unknown people is the Celts, who built their empire on salt.
  2. The demand for salt fueled and escalated the conflict between young America and Great Britain into a full-blown revolutionary war.
  3. The salt industry has caused much environmental damage, but the tax levied on it has concentrated power in the hands of a few big players.

It might not change your life, but the next time you’re at a dinner party grab a salt shaker and spice things up with your knowledge!

favorite quote:

“The Roman army required salt for its soldiers and for its horses and livestock. At times soldiers were even paid in salt, which was the origin of the word salary and the expression ‘worth his salt’ or ‘earning his salt.’ In fact, the Latin word sal became the French word solde, meaning pay, which is the origin of the word, soldier.”

Excerpt From: Mark Kurlansky. “Salt.” Apple Books.

 

My Rocket Bookmark

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During the circuits unit, we learned about series, parallel circuits, and sewable electronics. When I first came to the circuits class I knew a lot about electrodynamics and how circuits work but when we moved on to the sewable electronics I was dealing with a new sewing technique that Ms. Kim taught us. One of the adversities that I faced while sewing was tying on and tying off. When I first sewed I forgot to tie on as a result I pulled on the thread then my entire stitch came loose and all of the work that I have just done just disappeared. I overcame this adversity by practicing, improving my sewing technique, and remembering to tie on and to tie off.  One advice I would give to future circuits students would be to manage their time because a lot of people didn’t manage their time well and didn’t turn in the final project. So, manage your time and you’ll find circuits a lot of fun.

My bookmark was inspired by the Saturn 5 rocket launch. My rocket is slightly tilted to the right. The reason it’s tilted to the right is that as soon a rocket reaches orbit it would immediately fly horizontally. On the body of the rocket, I took an entire class using the back stick method to sew on the body of the rocket to the felt. I decided to put the LED in between the top orange felt and the bottom blue felt so that the light could actually penetrate the orange felt.  Here’s my rocket bookmark:

 

Did the Boxers deserve a bad reputation

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Gathering all the facts about the boxers.

The Boxers didn’t deserve a bad reputation. The goal of the Boxer rebellion was to persevere their culture and beliefs in which the foreigners were threatening to destroy. During the Boxer rebellion, the German legation saw a Boxer boy outside of the legation then inexplicably executed him as a result thousands of Boxers stormed the legations. during the entirety of the Boxer rebellion, the casualties were ~ 33,600. But during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there were a total of about 200,000 people killed. The Total casualties of World War 2 are 85 million people.

When the foreigners first came to China, they tried to spread catholic indoctrinations but as a result, the Chinese refused so during the 2nd opium war after the Chinese lost one of the clauses of the treaty of Tientsin and the convention Peking was to allow Christian missionaries to preach anywhere in China. As of right now one of the 30 United Nations Human Rights laws talks about freedom of religion, but even though the Chinese refused the Christian missionaries they still violated their beliefs. As the churches kept inciting them with derogatory statements about their beliefs the Boxer stood up and as a result, 2 German missionaries were killed. Even though people blame the Boxers for killing several missionaries the cause of the massacres was missionaries invading their beliefs and not respecting people with other beliefs.

On June 11, the first Boxer, dressed in his finery, was seen in the Legation Quarter. The German minister, Clemens Von Kettler, and German soldiers captured a Boxer boy and inexplicably killed him. As a result, thousands of Boxers busted into the city of Beijing and burned many of the churches and cathedrals in the city also burning people alive. As of 2020, we are facing pretty much the same problem with the death and murder of George Floyd. After the murder of Mr. Floyd people from all over the world started to protest to stop police brutality. The same thing happened when the Boxer boy was murdered thousands of Chinese citizens came into the walled city of Beijing and burned lots of churches and missionaries. So, what I argue is that the killing of the Boxer boy lead to the murder of Christian missionaries, so it is unjust and biased to say that the Boxers killed thousands for no reason whatsoever.

During the Boxer rebellion, an approximate total of 33600 people was killed that were only Christians and the Boxer rebellion lasted for 1 year 10 months, and 5 days. But the 2 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused approximately 200,000 deaths which are 5 times more than what the Boxers have done for the entirety of the Boxer rebellion. Let’s compare the Vietnam war with the Boxer rebellion. The main goal of the Vietnam war was to stop communism from taking over an entire nation. Now the foreigner’s goals for the Boxer rebellion was to convert people to Christianity and to stop Buddhism and Confucius beliefs in China. The freedom of religion and freedom of speech allows people to believe in what they want they could be communism, Buddhism, etc. So, on both accounts does the foreign legation violate basic human rights.

The Boxers were people fighting to save their beliefs and religion. While the missionaries and the foreigners were trying to undermine and abrogate the beliefs of Chinese citizens. So, I ask you the reader, are the Boxers really that bad compared to the nations that killed 85 million people in world war 2, the nations that violated basic human rights laws, and the nations that violated the laws of war?

Please don’t get offended by any of the comments made on this CER.

Everything you need to know about Lysander

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Lysander, a handsome young man from Athens, is in love with Egeus’s daughter Hermia. However, Egeus oppose Lysander and prefers his daughter to marry a man called Demetrius. Meanwhile, Hermia’s friend Helena is in love with Demetrius. When Hermia is obliged to choose between dying, never seeing a man again, or marrying Demetrius by the next full moon, she and Lysander run away into the forest.

“The course of true love never did run smooth” In the play a midsummer night dream, Lysander’s character traits include tenaciousness, amorousness, and audaciousness.  “If thou lovest me then, Steal forth thy father’s house to-morrow night; And in the wood, a league without the town, Where I did meet thee once with Helena, To do observance to a morn of May, There will I stay for thee.” in this quote Lysander is asking Hermia if she wants to flee Athens if she accepts they will meet in the woods. This is a really audacious move since Athenian law prohibits Lysander and Hermia from being together. And if they were to be caught Hermia and Lysander will be executed.  “There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee; And to that place, the sharp Athenian law Cannot pursue us(line 161-163)”.In the play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Lysander is not giving up on true love even though the sharp Athenian law is forbidding them to be together he still wants Hermia to be his wife. Even though there are other people Lysander can love he chose Hermia and goes to great lengths to be with Hermia such as fleeing Athens, and infringing Athenian law.” I am beloved of beauteous Hermia: Why should not I then prosecute my right? (line 100-104)” In this quote, we can see that Lysander wants to be with Hermia and he believes that he is fully entitled to his rights. But since Egeus is Hermia’s father he can dispose of her however he wants. So Lysander plans to escape Athens with Hermia to pursue true love. William Shakespeare used words such as beauteous to show how much Lysander loves Hermia.

In conclusion, Lysander is a tenacious, amorous, and audacious person. Lysander goes to great lengths to pursue true love such as infringing laws, escaping Athens, disobeying Hermia’s father.

-Allan

hyperlinks if you want to learn some more about the subject:

Synopsis, About Lysander.

The Theme of “A Sound of Thunder”

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Allan
8-7
Ms. Difalco
The theme of “A Sound of Thunder”

Never be facile when facing a situation. “A Sound of Thunder,” a science fiction story written by Ray Bradbury. Set in 2055, time travel allows mankind to experience the past in ways that never dreamt of before. Eckels, an ardent hunter, pay $10,000 to travel back to prehistoric times to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

As Eckels group travels back in time to the prehistoric ages, Travis, leader of the group, fervidly stresses not to stray from the anti-gravity path, theorizing that an infinitesimal change could have massive reverberation on the future: “The stomp of your foot, on one mouse, could start an earthquake, the effects of which could shake our earth and destinies down through Time, to their very foundations. With the death of that one caveman, a billion others yet unborn are throttled in the womb. Perhaps Rome never rises on its seven hills. Perhaps Europe is forever a dark forest, and only Asia waxes healthy and teeming. Step on a mouse and you crush the Pyramids. Step on a mouse and you leave your print, like a Grand Canyon, across Eternity. Queen Elizabeth might never be born, Washington might not cross Delaware, there might never be the United States at all. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off!” the reason the hunters are very stringent is that an infinitesimal mistake can prolong as it passes through time and space. Before you know it, you made Europe uninhabitable.

Ray Bradbury wanted to convey the butterfly effect on the story “A Sound of Thunder.” “In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state” this states that a small little change can result in a massive change. One example is a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane. But in the story, the butterfly effect is shown when Eckels steps on the butterfly causing massive changes in the present: “’ Who— who won the presidential election yesterday?’ The man behind the desk laughed. ‘You joking? You know very well. Deutscher, of course! Who else? Not that fool weakling Keith. We got an iron man now, a man with guts!’ The official stopped. ‘What’s wrong?’ Eckels moaned. He dropped to his knees. He scrabbled at the golden butterfly with shaking fingers. ‘Can’t we,’ he pleaded to the world, to himself, to the officials, to the Machine, ‘can’t we take it back, can’t we make it alive again? Can’t we start over? Can’t we—’ He did not move. Eyes shut, he waited, shivering. He heard Travis breathe loud in the room; he heard Travis shift his rifle, click the safety catch, and raise the weapon. There was a sound of thunder.” after Eckels realizes what he did, he yearns to go back to the past to set things right again. But Travis shoots him. This a great example of the butterfly effect and how a tiny little creature like a butterfly could cause so much damage.

Bradbury wanted to convey his idea that a small thing can lead to a massive catastrophe. The butterfly symbolizes the butterfly effect and how a tiny little thing can alter the entire course of history. Bradbury was very concise and clear on what he wanted the reader to understand. Overall, Bradbury has done it well.

Ray Bradbury with his hands out, circa 1980. (Photo by Tribune/Getty Images)

 

My Paper Circuit

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One of my favorite moments in the circuits class is making my first paper circuit because I have never worked with paper circuits before,  but I do have lots of intuition about typical circuits and electronic engineering so I found it easy to make. One challenge I faced was making the parallel circuit because the copper tape didn’t conduct well enough so the LEDs was, lighting up sporadically and it was very annoying. So I decided to bring 2 magnates to attach it at the junction point where the LED touched the copper tape and it worked like a charm, it conducted electricity perfectly and the light just stayed on. One challenge that I haven’t overcome is adding 3 LEDs onto the parallel circuit, because every time I added the 3rd led the 1st and 2nd one turned off so I decided to add 2 batteries, but that also didn’t work so the next time I might get LEDs that require a lower voltage to work. One thing I would like to change is working with the copper tape because I feel like the copper tape is a lot harder to work with than the typical wires and I would also like to work with capacitors and other things to make more complex circuits.

 

 

 

The Last Kiss – Ralph Fletcher

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images for the found poem

The Last Kiss – Ralph Fletcher

 

Symmetry seemed pervasive, an apparent law of nature.  

It extended to the kisses I got from my parents.  

Out kisses were passionate moments that passed much too quickly.  

A kiss from my mother’s meant a great big hug. My mother’s kisses potent, but not potent enough. 

Next my father. Thus, blessed twice kissed I could go off safely to bed.  

One night I went to kiss my mother good night.  

Next, I went to find my father. He was working down in the basement; he glanced up when I approached.  

Father knew exactly why I was there. This evening he became busy.  

I watched, tapping my foot, trying to be patient. Several minutes passed. 

 “I’m going to bed” I said “well good night then” he said.  

I was stunned.  

There was something in his voice that made me not ask again. I went to bed.  

Next night I decided to try father again. I went to him.  

Found him outside, behind his car, the trunk opened. He was on the road a great deal.  

It was 8:30 the lawn behind was alive with fireflies.  

I approached noisily, clearing my throat. 

” it’s bedtime”  

“good night then” he said turning away.  

I stood there.  

My mind held was too large to formulate into a question, too vague to clearly recognize as loss.  

This grim truth finally sunk in. 

 I was too old to be kissed by my father. 

 

 

 

 

 

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