U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

The Word September means ``seven``, Then Why is September the Ninth Month?

We take the predictability of the calendar for granted. But we may have felt differently if we were living under the rule of Julius Caeser.

September was the seventh month of the ancient Roman calender. The time before Julius Caeser the calenders began with March. But when Caeser took control he moved the calander and January was the first month. You can kind of figure this out because the word part ``nov`` means nine and ``oct`` means eight ``dec`` means ten

The month of July is named after Julius Caeser. The word Julius means ``july`` in Latin.

So the next time someone asks you what the first month of the year is, its best to say ``Is that a trick question?``

It’s all said and done, it’s real, and it’s been fun.

          "A new chapter in our live's are beginning. So turn the page and find out what happens next."

Well, Junior High has been the best 2 school years of my life. Look how far all of us have come. I will truly miss everything junior high has to offer. Yes, I am (sorta) happy to move on to the next level of school and discover what this world has left to offer, but I am scared too. High school will be so much different and from what I hear from family is that it is better than junior high. As life goes on, it gets harder each step you take, but nothing can take place of the best 2 years of my life.

Thanks to all the friends that have helped me through the obstacles that I faced. I care about every single person in period 5 English. Even though some of us might have some of the same classes together, it will not be the same. English was one of my favorite classes that I looked forward to every day. So thanks English answer man for all the things you taught. You really made English fun and easy to learn. I appreciate the things that you have taught me. Thanks for having us blog too. I have really enjoyed blogging. It is fun and something that I can become better at. Just look at all the old posts and you can see how much everyone has improved.

I will also miss the blogs. I will miss all the funny posts. (Like Martin's posts on noodles and chubby Asian birds :D) Blogging has been a great experience and I will try to continue the blog weekly during the summer. Thank you everyone for making this year the best year ever! I hope everyone has an AMAZING summer.
Thank you fellow classmates.
Thank you English Answer Man for everything!
I appreciate you all.
Good luck to everyone who is starting a new chapter in your life.
Goodbye Junior High


"Every goodbye makes the next hello closer."


"How lucky I am to have known people who was so hard to say goodbye to."


"Where is the “good” in goodbye?"





P.S. Writing this post made me sad. Be prepared I am going to cry on the last day of school! :(
Love you all. ~Amanda~




Photo by: Me

How to Survive a Heartbreak!!

LINK

When you get your heart broken for the first time, you're going to think it's the end of the world, but it's not!

HAVE A SLEEP OVER
When you get your heart broken you defiantly need to have a sleep over. Some people say sleep overs are dumb and pointless but you need to get your depression out on something. And nothing is better then having your girls over and kick back watching movies!

GO TO THE MALL
When you go to the mall there are all kinds of super cute guys!<3 (sometimes) (; But it's VERY rear to find cute guys. But anyway, you go to the mall to hang with friends and to get numbers to make your ex jealous!(: Also, you go to the mall so you can go and shop for stuff to show him that he don't faze you!

EAT FROSTING
I eat CHOCOLATE when I'm depressed from a heartbreak 'cause I don't know, it just makes me feel somewhat better. Actually, chocolate has the chemicals to make you feel the feeling of love, which I need. I know, I know I'll get fat but I go running everyday so I'll be good.

HANG WITH THE HOMIES
You wanna hang with your homies around him because then he will see what he is missing!! You may think what the heck why would I hang with friends soo much, well the answer is that you want them around so you're not so sad and crying over some dumb guy! obviously, he didn't love you because if he did he wouldn't have let you go!!

MUSIC
Music is the center of the world! You need to just lock yourself in your room and jam to your favorite bands and rock out. Music helps you clear your mind of every thing and makes you happy. When I'm sad and depressed I listen to Falling In Reverse with my best friend Gabbie! And I wanna make a shout out tell Gabbie I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE THE BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD!!<3

How To Survive Living in a House With 12 People!!!!

   So, your uncle's house is getting remodeled for Christmas and they don't want to rent a hotel room. Your mom wants to have a kind heart for for the holidays and invite them to stay with you. There's only one problem, you only live with your mom and two other sisters and eight people, (uncle, aunt, four cousins, and grandparents) are going to live with you temporarily.

   Now, this isn't going to be easy. So I'm going to show you how to survive living with 12 people!

Keep To Your Self

   Your sisters are excited to be living with your cousins, yay for them. You on the other hand aren't to excited because you know each and every single one of them, and how they act. One of your cousins might always be irritated, and your aunt might be a crazy psycho when it comes to cleaning. The only way to avoid these things is to keep to your self. When you get home put your shoes where they go and go into your room, or else there is going to be a problem. Don't worry about anyone else but yourself, don't go into other's business, and especially don't touch anyone's things. If you stick to this then you should be Ok, for a while.


Clean Up After Yourself


   When twelve people are living in your house there IS going to be a big mess, most of the time. The sink will be filled with every dish you own, you will be missing clothes, (and then one day see your aunt wearing your favorite shirt), and your room will be a tornado. The only way to avoid this is to clean up after your self. When your done with a dish, wash it. When your room is a mess, clean it, and try to keep it that way. If you see someone's shirt in your closet, return it. It's not that hard, you just have to be organized and responsible.


Hide Your Stuff


  Even though cleaned your room and everything is organized you might find something missing, and with three first and second graders that is definitively going to happen. If you have money I would suggest to keep it on you all the time, never leave it at home. If it's over 50 dollars i would have your mom or dad take it. It would be too much a risk to take it to school. If you find anything missing, look again and if you don't find it, look again, and if you still don't find it, look again. There might be a possibility that you didn't look right and if you don't find it after a couple times, then you have to investigate.
   Now, when you investigate don't just scream, "Where's my money!!! Who took it!!", that will cause problems. Go to the little kids first because they will tell you right away, but if they don't, don't worry you still have a lot of people. When you investigate just act normal, and have a conversation with someone and then just gradually ask if they've seen it. If they hesitate then you just found your first suspect, but don't get to excited you have to investigate every single person. When you have some suspects ask them each again and trust me you will know who it is by the end of the day.


Control Your Temper


   Yay!! You found out who had your money and it was your mom. She didn't want anyone to take it, so she took it. You're so embarrassed so you act in anger and scream and yell at your mom. So then your psycho aunt tells you to stop, but then you yell back at her, and it just turns ugly. This is what you shouldn't do. Don't yell, don't scream, and don't accidentally kick your aunt in the knee. When these times come, just say sorry and go into your room and fall asleep, it does help.


When You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say Don't Say it


   After a couple of weeks, and after kicking you aunt there might be a lot of tension in the house. Whenever you see anyone you just want to slap them, I feel you, but you can't do that. No matter how much you want to tell someone something, (something that would be so inappropriate, that I can't show it here on the internet) just don't talk to them. Now there's no way to avoid them since you live with them, so just don't talk. When you see them watching there favorite show, which happens to be a show you hate, just walk away. That's all you have to do because if you say something that will cause more family drama, and you don't want that.


  Remember these things because you don't know when you might have to live in a house with 12 people. I know I needed them.


Photo Credit: tankgrrl

How to survive an alien invasion

Even though an alien invasion most likely won’t happen I still think people should be prepared.  This is how I think you can survive an alien invasion.

Step 1: Have a Weapon.

Obviously weapons are very dangerous and people should not play with them, but if there were an alien invasion I think it would be fine for people to have weapons.  You can even make your own weapons.  Some people know how to make guns and cannons, ut the simplest thing you could make would probably be a shank.  They are not that hard and you may not even have to make one you could just use something sharp to stab the extra-terrestrials.

Step 2: Stay as calm as possible

If somebody actually saw an alien they probably wouldn’t be able to keep themselves calm in fact they may even have an anxiety attack.  It may be hard to do but you will have to keep yourselves as calm as possible.  If you are not calm you won’t know what is going on and won’t be able to keep yourself safe.  You must stay as calm as possible so the aliens don’t get you and kill you.

Step 3: Have a safe house.

Some people have safe houses in case of an emergency, but if you don’t have one I guess you could chill in a Wal-Mart or a basement.  It would just be better if you had a safe house it will lower your chances of dying.  The place I would have a safe house would be underground in the middle of the woods somewhere.  The safe house would also have to e packed with all the supplies you will need to live on, for at least a year.  It is probably scary in the woods because of evil animals, unknown animals, and psycho killers, but I would rather be in the middle of nowhere with all the supplies I need then in front of an alien.

Step 4: Try to make friends with an extra-terrestrial

This is one of the things that I wouldn’t try to do but it may help you stay alive is to befriend an alien.  It could go either way the alien may allow this or it will kill you and then go for your family.

Step 5: Act like an alien

This is really kind of stupid because you still might die, but you could act like an alien.  Maybe if you get an alien costume and put goo all over yourself you could be an alien.  The people would notice that your in a costume but aliens are stupid so they wouldn’t find out.

It is good to be prepared like my cousin. He is convinced that there is going to be a zombie apocalypse, so he and his weirdo friends are making weapons and figuring out their plans. These things probably won’t happen, but it is always good to have a plan.


Tal Pinchevsky

How to Survive a Crazy Family Night.

It is a Saturday night and you're stuck at your grandma's house for a crazy family birthday party. You are about to have the loudest night of your life.

Picture by: Yasin Hassan

Don't be afraid to be too loud.
With my family there is no such thing as quiet. When I am with them we laugh and have a good time with eachother. When you are with your family you can never be too loud. As my grandma says "the louder the better." "If a family is noisy it is a sign that they all love each other."
Have a good time.
A lot of people look at family time as something that is boring. It's not! Being with your family can be a lot of fun for everyone. Don't be boring and be the person on the side who thinks you're too cool to be playing games with your family. Participate! I guarantee that you will have a fun time. "Family and having a great time go together well."

Don't Fight.
No matter how much your family bugs you sometimes never argue or start an argument. If you fight with your sister, brother, mom, dad, ETC, there will be tension and in result will be a boring night. Even if they do something to make you mad don't do or say anything back, this could ruin a perfect night. "The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it.”

Don't Be Embarrassed by Them.
If you are going out somewhere with your family, try not to get embarrassed by them. I know from first hand experience that parents love to make their child embarrassed. For some odd reason they find pleasure in making their child's face turn red. But whatever you do don't act embarrassed.  Once they know you are embarrassed by them they do more to make you mad. Just don't show how embarrassed you actually are.

Families can be hectic sometimes. But if you try to follow these steps your embarrassing family that you don't want to be seen in public with might just be a little more fun.

How To Survive Being A Girl

  If your a girl then you know how many complications us girls have. Even guys know not to mess with a girl. We have our periods, developing parts, bad hair days, boys to deal with, and our necessity is our make-up and clothes.


That Time of The Month

  When it's a girls "time of the month" you should NEVER mess with her. The bleeding is just isnt the most satisfying. Us girls have major mood swings! Boys, don't even try to play around with her when she's on her period. She will backhand you if you even touch her. Best thing to do is just stay out of her hair. Try to do something nice for her though, she will remember that and maybe do something for you in return later on in life. The main thing is just don;t even touch or get near a girl.

Developing Parts

  Unlike boys, girls develop a growth in more body parts. Our breasts develop more and girl start to get more confident in themselves. Don't stare to much or she will assume you are a perverted rapist. Yes, some girls like to expose themselves more but, for the most part girl can also get really insecure if you stare at her to much. Not to be nasty but yes, us girls do get pubic hair in the lower area. If a guy tries to expose her in anyway, it will haunt her for the rest of her life. No one wants to that to be seen nor does that want to be seen.

BAD HAIR DAYS!

   When its obvious that a girl is having a bad hair day, DONT point it out! You will never hear the end of it. If you notice her hair is bad, keep your comment to yourself. If so many people tell a girl her hair is messed up she will and she a;ready knows, than she knows its more noticeable than she'll thought and it will get to her. All girls care about is how pretty their hair is. We like to look good to impress people, so if it doesnt look good its a really big deal! Always compliment a girl no matter how bad it looks. They will never except the compliment but inside it makes them feel good.

Boys.

   Boys are the most complicated human beings ever! We have to deal with guys who are JERKS but because their cute we always fall for them and take them back. Guys play with girls emotions like its nothing. We of course just have to deal with it. Guys dont know how much heartbreak we go through when they cheat. To them its like you messed up once now so can I, but the thing is they do it more than once. They dont care or understand how we feel. My suggestion is just be faithful. Our lives would be SO much easier. Do nice things for her here and there, that will show the girl that you actually care and are making an effort to keep your relationship. Spending a few extra dollars wont kill you. Just all a girl can ask is for you to show you care and not to make it seem as if your ashamed to be with them. However, a big NO is when all a guy wants is sex! NEVER try to pressure her. You could lose her.

Clothes and Make-up
   Clothes! We are always in competition with other girls on whos clothes are prettier. We HAVE to match all the time or we will die! Not literally but we take our clothing very seriously. If what we wear is complimented or if its not cute than we feel insecure. We ALWAYS feel insecure about something no matter what it is. Same with make-up. If you are the type of girl who likes to "cake" your face with make-up than you NEED your make-up at all times. If even one simple thing like mascara is missing we might possibly cry or throw a tantrum. Mascara, eyeliner, compact, foundation, and blush are our basic needs. It must be name brand to, it cant be cheap make-up. Yes, other girls will go into extreme and buy two of each or just buy more types of make-up, but hey thats what makes us feel pretty. No one should judge how a girl looks wth or without make-up.
                                                              ByHelga Weber

How to Survive a Yucky Cupcake

You now what is the worst, a yucky cupcake. Dry bread to much frosting this is a bad cupcake. Like eggs there can be a bad and good one. Unfortunately not everyone makes the best cupcakes. I don't make great cupcakes, but i like to eat other people's cupcakes.:) Some can be yucky but you just have to shrug it off like you never had it.


Stick to the Pretty Cupcakes
Like the picture above the cupcake does not look good! Most of the time if it does not look good it probably doesn't taste good. It needs to be colorful and full of life. The top needs to have a pretty design and topped off with something yummy. If it doesn't look like this it's probably a yucky cupcake so don't eat it.


A lot of Frosting= Yucky Cupcake
Never eat a cupcake with to much frosting. All that frosting is used to hide the dry bread. Some frosting can be to sugary. Sugary frosting is gross and it feels like it sticks in your mouth:(

How to wash it down.
If the cupcake taste is left in your mouth down a glass of milk.Milk, Almond Milk, Soy Milk anything of the kind can wash the bad taste away. If the taste of the cupcake is so disgusting your going to need to wash your mouth out. Or pack a case of breath mints to get the taste out. I have never been in a situation like that but I am afraid that's all you could do.


How to Say It's not Good
Has anyone had a Grandma, Aunt, etc. who cooks something for you and you didn't like it? I have and since they are your family you have to be honest with them when they ask, "did you like it?"Especially when it's a yucky cupcake. I nice way to say the cupcake wasn't good is, " Maybe cupcakes just aren't your thing." Or  " It Wasn't your best."

How to Pretend it was Good
When you just don't have the guts to tell the person it wasn't good you can pretend it was. Just say " Oh yea the cupcake was good, so moist..."  You can give that person some hope for next time. Hopefully it will be better next time.;) Or you can just smile and keep eating your cupcake so when they ask if it's good your mouth will be full and you can just mumble something they can't understand. Maybe that person will think "Wow they must like it they cant stop eating it!"

Just stick to these rules and you should be able to survive a bad cupcake.

Picture By: Casey Fox

Chicken Noodle Soup

How does chicken noodle soup help you feel better?Part of it is the makeup of the chicken meat itself - its fats and nutrients. Also because of it is the herbs and spices used to prepare the chicken soup. Ginger, thyme and sage are all healing herbs. Ginger tea is often taken when sick to help relieve symptoms and speed healing. But, the combination of the chicken and spices just seems to be much more potent - as well as appetizing.

 Ive always wondered about that. Every time I'm sick my mom makes me chicken noodle soup and 99% of the time it works. It never made sense I always thought my mom like snuck something in their but she didnt. Now my chicken noodle mystery is over.

Devil Jew

   In this particular picture a jew is basically the devil. He has what appears to be a whip and is whipping little children and women. It also shows the jew(devil) taking over the whole world. He is insanely red, large nose, and horns. To me it looks like he doesnt really care, he likes what hes doing. The bottom of this image said Jews are "the whip of mankind."

   The message this picture is trying to give is that all Jews are evil like the devil. Jews have huge noses which is why they put it on the devil. Also Jews have hair on the side of their heads drooping down. If you notice the Jews hair area is replaced with horns. At the bottom of this image it shows a globe with women and children surrounding it. With his whip, it appears that hes whipping them so he can take over the entire world. Mainly what its saying thoug his that all Jews are evil.

  Two key features I see in this picture is anger and pity. Showing anger is by the devil beating the women and kids with the whip. I have pity for these women and kids because kids are to  young to understand the situation and women arent as tough. In the image the men are trying to protect the women but his power is just to strong.

Cannibalism

  What I find extremely disturbing is cannibalism. Cannibaism is when people eat their own kind. If you fantasize about eating people then you might be a vorarephile. People tend to become like this when they are stranded in deserted places for a very long period of time.

    I find this idea DISGUSTING. Why would people eat their own kind? Thats pretty disgusting. Yeah, when your stranded somewhere you need the nurtients but why does it have to be a human body that you eat? Think about it. Would you eat another humans flesh? Even if you were starving, because I wouldnt! I would find something else like an animal or fish if I was stranded out in the sea.

  After researching about this fetish, I found out that vorarephile is a sexual fetish and paraphilia where arousal occurs from the idea of eating, or being eaten by, another person. This fantasy may sometimes involve the victim being swallowed dead or alive. This is a disturbing way to live life. Ill just stick to cooked animals.

The Poisonous Mushroom

  The Poisonous Mushroom is a story about a young buy and his mother looking through the forest for mushrooms. The little boy sees mushrooms, but him mother tells him those are poisonous just like the Jews. She tells him that one Jew can destroy a whole village if he wants to and to stay away from them.
 
Message:
  The message of the story is that ONE Jew can kill a whole village just like one poisonous mushroom can kill a group of people who eat it.

Propaganda Technique #1: Repetition


  Throughout the story the word "poisonous" shows up a lot. The mother keeps say "The Jews are poisonous just like the poisonous mushroom" Which isn't true at all. If a HUMAN being was really poisonous the government would probably have them in a secret lab in the middle of the desert. It just doesn't make any sense.

Propaganda Technique #2: Simple

  This "poisonous" thought that keeps showing up really gets to the point. The main things that are in the story are: Jews and poisonous. Any child who would read this story (a long time ago) would actually believe it. It's simple enough for basically anybody to believe it.

 
 Photo credit: Cortes de Cima

The Perfect Party

 Everyone loves to go to parties! The thing is, do they know how to plan an awesome party? Yes, theres the usual food, drinks, and well of course people. What you really need is:
-Amazing food! and there must be a variety of food.
-All sorts of drinks, but drinks that wont make you thirstier.
-REALLY upbeat music.
-Tons of people
-A big venue to throw the party

  At a party you cant have food thats just plain nasty. There needs to be a variety of food to because if its limited people are going to starve and wont have energy to party. You need fast food though because its a party not a banquet. Things like: pizza, hamburgers, chicken, even salads and fruits. You'll also need tons of drinks. Beer is OK, but for adults of an appropriate age. For teens you absolutely need soda. Something that will get you pumped up not bring you down. Juices and smoothies are OK to. All drinks must be cold though so you dont dehydrate in all the heat from dancing.
  
  When picking the music you MUST pick upbeat music. It wont even be a party with slow music, thats more for prom and stuff. Techno is definately a top choice I would recommend. You know teens nowadays love to shuffle and just crump and stuff like that. Rap is "tight" to because than girls can do their thing and grind or whatever they normally do.
 
  Now, for a party to be even fun you NEED a lot of people. The more people the better. If you like 4 people thats LAME! Thats like a get together. Wont be fun trust me. Of course if you invite a lot of people than you will need a huge venue. Beach parties are really fun! If you get hot just go in the water, but night beach parties those are "BOMB."\\Thats just my opinion. You can also do it at a mansion or someones house if its really big. I suggest the beach though. \
  

                                                                      By:inju 
   Well, now you know I think a perfect party should be. Upbeat music,drinks,food, and a lot of people, thats mainly what you need. I garantee if you go to a party, it will have all these things. Just try it for yourself and see how it goes.

Group work is ok

    Group work is fun when your with your friends. You get to have fun and mess around with ea h other when you work, but sometimes you mess around to much that you can't get anything done.
   I like to work with my friends. If you are doing a group project it's easy to visit each other's house and to decide what you are doing it on. Another plus is that you know each other's strengths. For example if one friend has a computer you can type all your stuff there and if another friend knows how to write really good they could write the paragraphs. Working with your friends is a good thing, but I like to get my work done early.
  I like to mess around with my friends and to have fun, but when it's time to work, it's time to work. I know it sounds like I'm serious, but I would rather get it done and not do it the night before. I also don't like it when group members lag and don't do what they are suppose to do. It's really annoying.
  I like to work in groups, but the people in my group have to be ready to work and to get it done.

  Photo credit: eldan
 

Teamwork: Awesome or Awful?

My class has been talking about teamwork lately. I also have been getting projects where we are allowed to work in groups but I always work alone. To me teamwork is good if everyone is working and they deserve the grade that you get in the end. I hate it when we are required to work in groups because some peoples` work just doesn`t deserve the same credit than others! I also hate when we we have to work in groups and i am stuck doing all the work because everyone else in ``busy`` goofing off. But working in groups is not always bad sometimes the out come could be good.

The good things about group work is that when you talk to other people about ideas on the same topic you get more ideas. Then later you can use those ideas on your own paper! Its sort of like ``cheating`` but in a good way. Teamwork is also good when you know absolutely nothing about the project. You can let the other people in your group do all the work (I am going against what I said in the introduction). Team work is also good when you are working with RESPONSIBLE (not Good) friends because they tend to cooperate with you and collaborate your ideas with theirs. If you are working with GOOD friends they will tend to goof off because they would expect you to do all the work. So take a word of advice from me, if you ever want to work in a group pick RESPONSIBLE friends to work with.

The bad things about group work is that sometimes you don`t get along with your group and that ends up messing EVERYTHING! Sometime there are people who want to be in groups but want to do everything by themselves and don`t want any of their group members` ideas. I hate those kinds of people because they just get on my nerves and I am the kind of person who like projects (because you get to show off you imagination).

So in conclusion, be very careful who you choose to work with when you are assigned a group project. Don`t work with snooty people or people who want to do everything by themselves. Don`t choose ``good`` friends not even if they saved you from getting hit by a boat while swimming. In other words, beware you never know what kind of people are out there!

Teamwork is a good and bad thing.  I personally do not like it because I really don’t like working with others.  I do better by myself but if I have to work with other people it isn’t that bad, at least not for me.  It would probably suck for the other person because I would probably just talk while we’re supposed to be working, but for some people teamwork is great.  They have someone else to help them out.  Some people love it because they will be able to get more ideas and get information that they may not have thought of on their own.  It is sort of a good thing for shy people because it may get them to open up and interact with others, but t can also suck because they can be so shy that it will cause them to freak out.   
By: ice_birdy 

The drinking age should stay at 21!

    The current drinking age is at 21, but their is some dispute going on about it. Some people think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18, which is completely ridiculous.
   In the 1970s the drinking age was lowered to 18 in some states, and the use of alcohol was increased. When the drinking age was raised back up to 21 in all fifty states in 1984 the use of alcohol was decreased. Why would you lower the age when it's perfectly fine? Like I said before the use of alcohol decreased when the age was raised and it's stood the same since. You are also allowed to drive when your sixteen, think about it, most 16 year olds want to be free and do what they want, like drinking. I'm not saying all 16 year olds drink, but 16 is an age of craziness. Some are smart and wait until they are 21, but if the drinking age is lowered to 18 teens will think, "I might as well start drinking now because the drinking age is now 18 and I'm only two years away!"
     Teens start to drive at 16 too, and most people know that drinking and driving is NOT a good combination! More accidents will happen and lives will be lost. I know I'm a teen, but i would rather wait until in 21 to drink instead of getting in an accident and getting hurt!!

   If the drinking age is lowered to 18, smart teenagers will say, "Oh, I'll just wait until I'm 18, it's only two years away!" That is a smart idea, but 18 is also a year of craziness. I believe that is the age is lowered it is a lose-lose situation. So the drinking age should stay at 21!


Photo Credit: Mike "Dakinewavamon"  Kline

Lowering the drinking is is ridiculous!

Most People think the drinking age should be lowered to 18.They believe that since people already drink at an early age, it should just be legal. They dont just want the drinking age to be lowered, they want everyone to take classes and having a drinking permit. Thats just plain ridiculous! Theres no reason to lower the drinking age.
  
   If the drinking age is kept at 21, more lives will be saved. Lowering the age to 18 is just going to make 15,16 and 17 year olds think its OK fir them to drink just because their almost 18. Also, at 15, 16 you start to learn how to drive. Most likely if we lower the age, than more people are going to drink and drive. That might result in severe damage to them or other people. However, statistics say that since the drinking age was kept at 21, more than 800 lives have been saved.

   Studies show that when the drinking age was lowered to 18, there was a dramatic increase in alcohol consumption. However, when it was then raised back up to 21, the rates for alcohol use were dramatically lower. Hopefully, teens will soon get tired of getting in trouble so much for under-aged drinking that they might possibly stop. But, if we lower it to many younger kids will assume its OK to drink sooner. Thats not a good idea to allow younger kids to believe its just no big deal.

   Yes, lowering the drinking age will benifit some people, but its still not a good idea. Most people only drink to be cool because their "breaking a law", but lowering it wont really matter. Maybe some drink just to take their stress away, but drinking isn't the answer. That could just lead to depression. My point is, for everyones safety, the drinking age should just remain at 21.

By:Ben Amstutz

Ten Incredible Things That Happen EVERY SECOND!!

This is a short post because its only TEN things but it is AMAZING. I was blown away by this information. ENJOY!!

10.) 30 Supernovas take place in the observable Universe.

9.) About 40 lightning bolts strike the Earth.

8.) There are 11,500 Google searches, 11,500 Facebook status updates and 2.8 million emails sent.

7.) The U.S. National dept increases by about $50,000. 

6.) 34 trees are cut down in the rainforest.

5.) 750,000 gallons of water flows over the Niagara Falls

4.) Almost 20,000 Coca-Cola beverages are sold throughtout the world.

3.) People spend on online adult entertainment.

2.) 4 people are born and around 2 die.

1.) Approximately 4,000 new stars are created.

Group Work

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Kids in these times piss me off, they are lazy, idiotic, stuburn, irresponsible, rude, self-centered, pieces of trash!

Group work is in most schools all over the world. A lot of people believe it's the "best thing ever made since the calculator". But in my opinion, it's the worst dang thing EVER invented!

Some teachers believe they're "preparing their students for the outside world" but, in the real world we don't get other peoples help with anything unless you're married, and that's the last thing you want to get into! So teachers you are NOT helping us! You are making us dependent NOT independent!

Once when I was obviously NOT using my head, I got into a group to do a project with my best friend. Well, I got stuck typing the WHOLE glossary of the math textbook by myself WITHOUT any help! Then about two weeks after we started the project, me and my best friend got into a fight and we couldn't change partners so I was stuck with an obnoxious, stupid, idiot who refused to do crap! Then, when I, YES ME, MYSELF, AND I, finished the project we both got the same grade when she didn't do anything at all!

Now, I can see why teachers "LOVE" group work, you know so they don't have to grade a project for each student, which is cool and all, but like honestly group work is not fair. And I know, I know people always tell me life isn't fair well, like for reals we deserve to get the grade we get but when one person doesn't do their part, then why should they get the grade at all!?

Underage Drinking Is Idiotic

By MZM-Photo

Recently in my English class my teacher brought up an article about lowering the drinking age from 21 to18. A lot of people are on both sides, but I am against it.

There are a lot of reasons why I'm totally irritated about this subject. About 99% of my English class agrees with me, that the drinking age should NOT be lowered.

In the article, it shows both sides of the argument and I will admit both sides do have great pieces to argue off of, but personally, only one side has more to it then the other.

Anyhow, my opinion is that the drinking age should actually be raised! Yes, I know, you're probably thinking why the hell should it be raised?! But think about it, how many people between the ages 18 and 21, do you know that are responsible and make GOOD decisions??

Exactly my point! NO ONE at that age can make good judgments!

Not only that, but at 18 you can start driving so why give teenagers BOTH the right to drive AND not only that but DRINK??!! It's basically telling them it's totally fine to drink and drive and more likely to kill people!

Actaully, when when the drinking age is at 21, it's been fine so why change it when not only does it save over "800 lives a year" from drunk drivers, but it also helps make sure the people that are drinking are somewhat more mature enough to drink.

Some people believe it should be lowered because at the age of 18, you are considered and adult and adults, should have the right to drink; but  honestly in my own opinion, 18 is still a child because you're either graduating from high school or just graduated!

 Also, most people now like to be "cool" and they think just because their music talks about drinking and using drugs they should as well! But that is plain STUPID!

For example, I was raised to be a leader NOT a follower, or in other words JUST BE MYSELF and not care what ANYONE thinks!

Group Work? Good ? Or Bad?

    Group work to me is plain out bad, it has its positives but its mostly bad. When people work in assigned groups they dont want to do any work because they werent assigned to a group with their friends. Then again when you arent assigned with a friend you start to actually do work instead of talk and mess around. However, people these days are just plain lazy and rebellious. If they are in groups its mainly just to socialize, so if they work alone they might actually get something done.
 
  A while back when I did group work, I was all excited because we got to chose the people in our group. Of course I wanted to be with my friend so we partnered up. Let me tell you, that was the WORST idea ever! All she wanted to do was talk and talk and talk, no work what so ever. I asked to cooperate with me but she laughed as if I was joking or something. I ended up doing all the work by myself! Guess what though? She got credit for all the work just because she is a good student! I was really mad, but I learned my lesson.

  Yes, working in a group can benifit you, if you need help or something but, you need to have the right people in your group. If its just flat out lazy people than whats the point of a group? Nothing, you might as well just work alone

Group work is the worst!

                               
There is nothing I hate more than having to work with someone on a project. I do not like having to rely on someone to finish their work and to get the project done. In the past I have had bad experience with group work. I decided to work on a project with my friend in 6th grade and he didn't even do it. I was really mad because he didn't do his work and I got a bad grade since he chose not to do it.

Why should teachers make students work with someone on a project? It's pure misery. Some people are not the most reliable while others are fun and great to be with because they get the work done. Mostly it depends on the people you are working with but over all it is a bad experience. In 8th grade I had positive experience with a history group project. Everyone got the work done and did their part of the job. It is times like these where I love working with other people.

But when you have a partner who is bad at school work and doesn't care if it gets done or not sucks big time. So when you get to choose partners for group work make sure you choose wisely and pick people who care if their work gets done.

Photo by: seekingthomas

Group Work is Not Amazing

I mean for me personally I don’t like group work, especially when you don’t get to pick your partners. Group is just a waste of time. We all work at different speeds and when we need to work together it just usually doesn't work out.  Usually one of the partners just doesn't give the work their all. It always happens in mostly every group situation. 

The opposite of someone not doing the right amount of work is someone who takes over the whole project. That is my pet peeve! I hate it when someone thinks they are better than everyone else, and thinks they can do it all.When someone takes over project they usually don't care in their partner's opinions. It's no fair when someone has a good idea and it's not even used. Everyone should have an equal share.

Now the other horrible parts of group work is when someone doesn't do enough work. This had happened to me all through elementary school. Everyone drew the pictures and I was usually left with the writing. Usullaly when you pick your partners you should choose the right people that will want to pitch in. When you choose your best friends that can be a problem sometimes. When you're working with your friends you can get distracted. So, I recommend to choose friends that are going to work not talk.

Overall group projects are not my thing. They never will be either. I'm much better with working at my house by my self. I just get the work done quicker and it's down my way. The only good thing that comes out of group work is that you get to share ideas and that's it for me.

Photo By: Brande Jackson

If you want to learn more about the pros and cons of group work click here.

There has been a lot of deciding on whether or not to lower the drinking age. Some people believe that the drinking age should stay the same. They think it’s a bad idea to lower the age if people know that more lives are being saved by having the drinking age at 21. Many other people think it should be lowered to 18 because there are many underage drinkers and if it is lowered they can prevent that. I think that there are better reasons that the drinking age should remain at 21 than there are for lowering it.

The first reason I believe the drinking age should be kept at 21 is because it will save more lives. If you allow younger people to drink they will probably do dumb things and just by getting in their car after one drink they put themselves and others in danger, even though they may thing that they have everything under control. There are already so many drunk drivers out there by lowering the drinking age it will only be putting more people in danger. Drunk drivers can not only harm or kill themselves but they can also harm others.  In this article I read it stated that The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that leaving the drinking age at 21 will save about 800 lives.  It’s simple would you rather have more or less people die? I personally would like more people to alive than dead by an alcohol related situation. I don’t knowing that innocent people would be killed because people are allowed the chance to make a stupid decision.

The second reason I think the driving age should stay at 21 is because there is nothing wrong with it now, it’s not broken. I think it is stupid for people to put their time and money into this when there is nothing wrong with it.  I don’t understand what is wrong with people, it is fine the way it is but yea we should totally go waste are time and money so more people can die.  It’s like someone saying I’m going to go get my appendix removed; there is nothing wrong with it I just want to waste my money and the surgeons’ time. It’s already been proven that more people died from an alcohol related situation when the drinking age was at 18 and there is less death by having the drinking age at 21.

I think that it would be better to leave the drinking age as it is. Some people think it should be lowered because if people take a class they will learn how to control themselves. People would be forced to take that class if they wanted to legally be allowed to drink, that doesn’t mean that they are going to listen and actually learn anything. Even if they do pay attention there is a good chance that once they start drinking they won’t be able to control themselves. They say they’re going to drink one beer then they get another and another, and eventually move on to stronger types of alcohol. They won’t know what they are doing and probably won’t remember what they did.  Not many people can control themselves when they drink because they are drinking to have fun so they get wasted and sometimes do stupid things. So I don’t think that the driving age should be lowered to 18 I would like more people to be safe.

 Jasmine Walker1 

DO NOT lower the drinking age!!

In houses and classrooms all over the world people debate if the drinking age should be lowered. One side of this argument states it should stay at 21 while others say it should be lowered to 18. This side that wants it to be lowered say "What we're doing now to prevent underage drinking isn't working; it's time to try something else." If the United States have a problem with underage drinking why would you lower the age? If the law would be enforced more the we wouldn't have a problem with underage drinking. Why lower the age of drinking when "there's no reason to fix what isn't broken." Researchers say "underage drinking has been steadily going down since the drinking age was raised to 21." Why would people lower it if the percentage of underage drinking is going down? According to statistics  "raising the drinking age to 21saves about  800 lives a year." Why lower the age when so many lives are being saved each year? "When younger people start to drink , if they combine it with  driving  it results in a lot of fatalities. 11% of teens are more likely to drink before age 14 than they are before the permitted age. More lives will be saved if the drinking age stays the same. Teens who drink tend to get in more fights and car crashes than the teen who doesn't drink. I think that lowering the age to 18 is a bad idea. By keeping the age at 21 will save more lives.

Picture by: Nickel xie

Should the Drinking Age be Lowered To 18?

Photo By: Ell Brown

Is lowering the drinking age a good idea? Many believe the drinking age should stay 21 and should not be lowered to 18. Some say, why ``fix`` what isn`t broken? These people believe that lowering the drinking age would cause more bad than good. Others on the other hand, want to lower the drinking age to 18 but only with a drinking permit. They believe that if you learn about all the harm binge drinking can do to you, young people will not consume as much alcohol. I believe the drinking age should stay at 21.

The first reason I believe the drinking age should be kept to 21 is because it saves lives. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that raising the drinking age to 21 saves about 800 lives per year. Most public health groups-including the Centers for Desease Control and Prevention and American Medical Assn.-favor keeping the drinking age to 21. Back in he 1970`s, a number of states lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18, and we saw an increase in alcohol consumption by youth. When it was raised again in 1984 back to 21, we saw lower consumption of alcohol and we`ve kept those low rates.

Underage drinking is also a big issue. When you start drinking you have look 21. A 16-year-old and 14-year-old don`t look 21 but they can easily pass for the age of 18. Studies also show that kids under 14 are more likely to get addicted to alcohol and get into fights and crashes than kids who don1t drink.When you see younger people starting to drink, if they combine that with driving it results in a lot of fatalities. There is also an issue that states that since the drinking age is lower in Europe, there is a lesser problem. But if you look at the surveys that have been done, most European countries have a mudh higher rate of binge drinking for 15 and 16 year olds that we fo in the U.S.

People who want to lower the drinking age to 18 say, what we have been doing to prevent underage drinking so far hasn`t worked. The DARE [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] program, for instance, which is used in about 70% of the schools in the country, is basically a scare tactic. If it was just a ``scare tactic`` then why would the government waste money on these types of programs. The government would have passed the law to lower the drinking age to 18, ages ago. In other words these programs about drug abuse and all that do work. The out come migh be slow but atleast you are getting somthing out of it. Like my mom always says, ``The car might be moving slowly but atleast its moving forward.``