Declaration of Independence from Parents

        When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a child to dissolve the family bond with his or her parents, the ones that have brought them into this world. Parents could be over-manipulated their children, in which the children would be suffocate  It would be a disrespectful act just to assume thing without any supported evidences to demonstrate the causes that impel children to the separation of their parents. after they turned eighteen.

       We hold these truths to be self evident, that everyone is created equal and should be provided with certain alienable rights, which includes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As the day we came into this world, we are secured to be treated with respect and granted freedom. Although parents have the rights to speak in their children's lives, it is wrong for them to manipulate and control every aspect of their lives.  If our parents’ actions become excessively intolerable, it should be our right to remonstrate against such power and shut them down, to the benefit of the children. The history of our nefarious parents calls for independence from such overpowering power. To prove our arguments, let our facts be submitted, 

They have told us to challenge ourselves to take Honors and Advanced Placement courses to improve our grades, but constantly nagging us for having too much homework.

They have told us to go ahead and perform tasks if we think we know how to do it, but yell at us for thinking that we're "smart"

They have provoke us to go further when we're in a fight and then blame us for "talking back"

They have wanted us to report our daily activities while they could be careless

They have prohibited us from being in a relationship and spend time with our crushes. 

They have attacked us with tons of housework tasks at once, and expect us to finish all of them within a short time range.

        Compromise is useless. When we try to explain to them to avoid further conflict, they think that we're being rude and disrespectful. We have warned them from time to time that we would leave them soon and declare independence, but they don't seem to take any notice or pay any attention at all.

        Therefore, we, the children of our parents need to seek action. We need to stand up for ourselves and our beliefs. We need to preserve our freedom in order to pursuit our happiness.Our voices must be heard. And for the support of this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our honors.

Major League Baseball Brawl (Photo)

1/ Immediate cause: conflict between 2 teams.
 Remote causes: some team members were overheard talking about other team negatively or they were not satisfy with the final score.
2/ As the outcome of the fight, the game would be canceled. The players on the field would get detentions and injuries. The players that are waiting in the dugout would get angry because they could not play the game dues to their teammates' tempers. The fans would be disappointed and caused a pandemonium outside the field or on social network websites.
3/ Casual chain: Conflict -> Action (Fighting) -> Injuries ->  Consequences

JOURNAL ENTRY:
       Under many circumstances, conflicts are inevitable. A simple conflict could lead to major conflicts. Conflicts always result in consequences so it is best if we prevented it at the first place. For situation such as the one shown in the picture, the number of security guards should be increased. Players who can not control their tempers and have foolish behaviors should get detention and forbid to play in certain numbers of games. The score is very important in sport so by the threat of deducting their points, none of the players would be willing to risk it.

How to escape from a bad party

Have you ever been bored out of your mind at a party and feel like you just don't belong in it? Did you want to escape from it but you want to avoid of being called "lame"? The following instructions could help you out!

FAKE AN EMERGENCY
1. Excuse yourself from the crowd
 Tell your friends that you have to use the restroom. Bring your cell phone with you. You should have your own cell phone. If you don't have one, then I'm sorry, you're are really just "lame."

2. Call or text your friends or relatives for help
Explain your situation to them. Ask them to pretend that there has been an emergency. Texting is a better option because nobody could eavesdropping on you. Here is an effective way: Ask somebody to call and yell at you over the phone. Tell your friends that it's your parents who have gone crazy and want you to come home. Trust me, nobody wants to mess with crazy parents. If they are your true friends, they would not want to get you into trouble.

3. Leave quickly
Get out of their as soon as possible, especially if you're a terrible liar, before they realize that it was just an excuse.


FAKE SICKNESS
1. Show sick body languages
Make a stinky and uncomfortable face. Fold your body up a bit and put your hands in your stomach if you want to fake a stomach ache. Rub your temples in a circular portion to demonstrate that you have a migraine. If all fail, rub the anterior portion of your neck for the sign of wanting to vomit.

2. Excuse yourself from the crowd
Go to the bathroom and wash your hands. Choose a clean toilet stall and face the toilet bowl. Put the spoon or your finger inside your mouth and place it deep down your tongue. Try to throw up by thinking of something gross such as your ex's face, or imagine the toilet bowl in front of you is full of feces. Wipe out the disgusting residue on you mouth, wash your hands and return to the crowd.

3. Leave quickly
Leave quickly before you actually get sick of boredom. Up until then, I'm sure you're not welcomed to be at the party anymore. Nobody wants you to transmit your germs to them or ruin the party by throwing up everywhere.

WORD OF ADVICE
     If all of the above method fail, just walk out and leave! Be yourself! Don't get scared for being called "lame." You're probably too cool for them anyway! Next time, before you accept any invitation to the party, make sure to ask briefly about what would be at the party, and the people at the party are as cool as you. Good luck!

Roman Slavery vs. American Slavery

      Slavery began thousands of years before the Romans existed and continued until at least 1887. It lasted longer than the Roman Empire. In America, slavery was introduced shortly after the arrival of the colonists. It divided the nation into half and became a major problem that caused the bloody Civil War.
      Although Rome and United States are located in different continents, Roman slavery and American slavery are similar in many ways. Slavery plays a large role in domestic and agricultural in Rome as well as the United States. Cotton was the staple crop of the U,S while wheat was the fundamental crop in Rome. Therefore, slaves have to work out in the field for long hours.People who are considered as slaves are treated cruelly and demeaned by the society. When a female slave pregnant, her child would be considered as the slave owner's property and the cycle just keeps on going.
       Besides the similarities Roman slavery and American slavery are different in many ways. Most of slaves in ancient Rome are often foreign captives from wars. Some of the native Roman were enslaved because they were in debt. In the United States, slavery was mainly racially based. Most slaves were black and originally came from Africa. They were dehumanized and treated extremely cruel comparing to Roman slaves.

Ken Kesey's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

1. This book is anti woman because of the way Kesey portrays the role of women throughout the novel. One of the major themes in the book is women as castrators. It was demonstrated through characters such as Nurse Ratched, Harding’s wife, Billy Bibbit’s mother and Chief Bromden’s mother. In Kesey’s term, the “good” female characters are the prostitutes like Sandra and Candy who are obedient in every aspect, including sexually and doesn't manipulate them. Even Though this book offers that woman is more superior than man,Kesey uses that woman uses their power in the wrong way.
2. Ratched is a tool that also known as socket wrench. The function of the tool is to fix the loose stuff back in place properly. Nurse Ratched’s name foreshadows that her main job is to “fix” the insane people back into sane.
3. America in this era a “matriarchy” because during the 1960s and 1970s is when the "second wave" of feminism that spread across the United States. Women finally fought to take a role in the society and was accepted by the government. Equal Pay Act of 1963, Women Strike for Peace. Eugenie Moore Anderson was the first female U.S. ambassador. Eleanor Roosevelt and Marilyn Monroe are known as legacies.
4.  This book is anti black because there are not many black characters except the aides. The racism is clearly shown through the Nurse Ratched’s process of choosing aides. She believes that “the blacker they are, the more time likely to devote to cleaning and scrubbing, and keeping the ward in order.” Mostly everything in the ward is white so their “black face and hands seem to float against it like a ghost.”
5. McMurphy is presented as a Christ figure throughout the book. When he had the opportunity to escape the ward, he decided to stay and help the other patients. His scarification at the end of the book is similar to Jesus’ crucifixion. They both sacrificed themselves to better the lives of other people. In the Shock Shop, the table is cross shaped. On the fishing trip, Chief Bromden describes that "McMurphy led the twelve of us toward the ocean," which relates to how Jesus has 12 followers.  Candy is like Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ most celebrated disciples. In the book, we can imply that McMurphy and Candy had a sexual relationship. Many people believe that Jesus and Mary had a sexual relationship too.
6. For Kesey, the insane asylum represents the microcosm of America in the early 1960s. Through the mental hospital, Kesey portrays American fear of communism after the Cold War by the resistance of the patients against Nurse Ratched. The use of drugs of the patients in the novel reflects the hippie's believe about drugs. The matriarchal theme illustrates women's liberation. 
7. We hear so much about McMurphy’s record in resisting the communists in Korea because he was a veteran from Korea. He feels that living in the ward is no different from living in a communist country. People are being manipulated and watched for every action they make. 
8. The fact that he is categorized as the Chronics and his description about things, such as the fog machine, show us that Chief Bromden is not a reliable narrator. It is significant that he is an Indian because it indicates that his point of view could be biased prior to the impacts that the White have made on the Indian's society. According to Bromden, the Combine is a giant machine that manipulate everything and shape them into its standards. The hospital is the machine-like Combine in which Nurse Ratched is the "head." It tries to make machines out of everything, including humans. He escaped from the hospital to liberate himself at the end of the novel.
9. According to Freud, the history of man is the history of repression. This book is influence by Freudian thought because the main theme of the novel is "women as castrators." The doctors, and patients, which are all male, are being repressed and manipulated by Nurse Ratched.
10. The book's concerns about the evils of approved official drugs that these drugs were popular upon the hippies and 1960s dissidents.They thought that the pleasurable feeling that resulted from the usage of these drugs help to expand their consciousness. In the book, Chief Bromden was given drugs to help him to recover but it just caused him to hallucinate. 
11. 1960s dissidents fought to oppose to Communist rules and formed into a human rights movement.In the novel, the patients were opposing the communism of Nurse Ratched and the hospital.The book became such an influential manifesto for 1960s dissidents and rebels because it demonstrates that they have the same motive and that fighting would lead to liberation.
12. Other great political satires of the 20th century it calls is McCarthyism. This is so powerful theme for an author to write in this period because most of the events happened involve it. For Kesey, modern America is too hypocrite and would harm others for their own benefits. 
13. In the book, democracy is hard to form. There was no democracy in the ward, it's more like a communism.
14. The book glorifies criminals and lunatics and that they are the ones who seek for radical changes. It tells us that the 1960s radicalism could go wrong. Insanity is not always the sane response to the insane world.
15. Gambling is so significant to McMurphy's character because it shows that he likes to gamble and is not afraid of doing so. In the novel, he gambles his freedom and life to help the patients in the ward. This is so unpopular to the authorities  because  McMurphy was able to persuade other patients to challenged the authorities.
16. The Big Nurse symbolizes for a member of the Combine system. Chief Bromden sees the hospital as a part of the Combine in which Nurse Ratched is the head of it.
17. Liberation of the patients is expressed through their laughter when they were on the fishing trip. Chief Bromden's escape from the hospital is also a sign of self liberation.
18. The fact that Kesey was making a heavy use of LSD and other drugs when writing this book apparents through the way Chief Bromden describes about the fog machine and his analysis about size and power. It was obviously unrealistic and was just a part of his hallucination state. 
19. Laughter is such a theme for the book because to the patients, it represents the real world outside of the hospital. McMurphy believes that it is potent defense against society’s insanity, For Kesey, laughter represents freedom, expression, and sanity. 
20. The "loonies" are much healthier than the sane because was able to identify the differences and stand up for their belief. Although insanity is a sane response to a crazy world, it does not have to be the only ultimate sane response. It really depends on what kind of insanity it is. The labeling of other problems, such as crime, is insanity but they're not a sane response to this crazy world. Crime rates probably increased from 1960s because people thought that they are sane by acting insane. 
21. The arguments that Kesey put forward suggests that the best way to reform society is rebellion. People must take actions if they want to seek for changes.
22. The author makes use of many rhetorical devices such as metaphor, symbolism , allusion and irony to describe the patients and the condition of the ward. Metaphor and allusion are frequently used throughout the novel.

How to cover scratches on furniture?

Reading Images
1. The images doesn't give me enough information to perform the process. It doesn't tell me which color of crayon, what heating setting of the hair dryer and what type of cloth I should use to wipe it.
2. According to the illustration, the steps to cover scratches on the furniture are apply crayon to the scratches, blow dry the it and then wipe it with a cloth. The step labeled number 1 is not actually a part of the process. It is just a scenario that demonstrates the audience that scratches are formed. But it is helpful because without step 1, the illustration would not make sense.
3. Be careful to choose the right color of the crayon to match your furniture and use a clean and dry cloth to rub it but be gentle with it because you might also rub out the color.

Journal Entry
       Did you wake up and discover that your lovely kitten has scratched your furniture? Before you strip it down and spend money to refinish it, or worse, throw it away, I have some tips that might help you out. Find a crayon that matches your furniture perfectly. Imagine the crayon is a makeup product that helps to cover your furnitures imperfection, carefully color it on the scratches. After that, take out your handy-dandy blow dryer, set it in medium setting and operate it for about two to three minutes. And finally, to add the finishing touch, lightly wipe the colored scratches with a clean and dry cloth. Tadaaa! There you go with your pro-scratched looking furniture. How easy and inexpensive it is to do. I'm sure your furniture appreciate it when you give it a little make over at times like this!

Sweatshops

           Have you guys ever wonder why most of the items that you're using, including clothings, electronic devices, and even your toothbrush are made in China , Guatemala, or Vietnam? Well, that's because there are many sweatshops over in these countries.Sweatshops have been a factor in the production of goods around the world for centuries,  numbers of major corporations take advantage of this low-cost sweatshop labor in developing countries, including the United States. The sweatshops workers usually have to work for long hours and get pay very little; that's very unhealthy and unsafe. Child labors laws  may also be violated.                                               
Many consumers enjoy buying products that are produced by the sweatshops. Some of them know the origins and stories behind the products, some don't. Even though they know, they would still purchase it.In the horrible economic that we're  living in now, it's hard to blame the customers .Who would not buy anything that is affordable? It's also hard to identify which company use sweatshop or not, even if it is the brand name clothings. Walt Disney and Nike were accused of using sweatshop.         
        Some people see the similarities between slavery and sweatshop works which led to the first abolitionist movement started in the 19th century.Our government's effort to change sweatshop work condition is by introducing the labour laws that set a minimum age, wage, hours, set minimum work conditions for the workers, especially teenagers. Protesting from workers would not really work because the company could just moved to another country. 

Napping - Now and Then.

 Write a description of a scene you remember from your childhood. Discuss how your current view of the scene differs from the view you had when you were a child.    
       


       My favorite season is always summer. During my childhood, summer for me did not consist of hours of video games or winding my eyes watching cartoons on the television, it was the time when I could easily be found in the corner of my neighborhood, spending time with the kids in my neighbor. We played traditional games such as hopscotch, marble, and jacks. I hated being interrupt in the middle of the game.
       Chinese tradition jump ropes was one of my favorite. One day, I just finished tying little, colorful elastic bands together to create a 3 meters long elastic string. With my new rope, I showed it to my friends and they were amused by how neat it looked. We had played for hours and my grandma came to look for me. Oh no that was my nap time!
      I hated nap time when I was little. I hated it so much that I usually would just laid down and stared at the ceiling. My grandma would yell at me with her long and thin wooden stick that came in handy, "Linh, I'm going to count to three and you would be dead if you're still awake.1...1.5...2...2.1...2.2...2.3...2.4..."and so on. It was either sleep or getting whips. She raised me up, so she knew that I was a stubborn child and usually did not close my eyes until she said 2.8. That was probably the reason why she usually counted at a slow pace and then she would scrutinized me until I fell asleep.
      With a kid's temper, I used to hate my grandma for that. Why would I need nap time when I already have about 12 hours of sleep every night? I wished that when I wake up, I would become an adult so I could spend more time with my friends instead of napping. But I was wrong, I am now almost 16 and sleeping is all I would ever ask for. With school, AP classes, sport and other after school extracurricular activities, my current earliest bedtime is 1:30. I miss the old time when all I had to do were eating, playing, sleeping and not to worry about anything else. I now wish that my grandma would be next to me at noon, with her wooden stick and force me to sleep again.

Joseph McCarthy

           Joseph McCarthy’s full name is Joseph Raymond McCarthy. He was a two terms Republican Wisconsin Senator who was born on Nov. 14, 1908, near Appleton, Wisconsin. As a Wisconsin attorney, McCarthy served for three years as a  judge before enlisting in the Marines in World War II and resigned as a lieutenant in 1945. In 1946 he won the Republican nomination for the Senate over Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Jr.; he was later reelected that autumn in 1952.

He grew up in a poor Catholic family.He dropped out of school after eighth grade to start his own poultry business. But after the business was unsucessful, he enrolled in the local public high school. Joseph McCarthy went to Marquette University for two years of undergraduate. He later entered Marquette Law School,

             February 1950 was when the Red Scare started and the fear of Communism arose in the United States. He was known for claiming there were 205 known communists working for the U.S. Department of State but yet he could not provide any evidence for. President Truman dismissed him as a “ballyhoo artist.” He exploited the fear of Communism and attacked the government to increase his political standing. During the controversy, he gained a reputation as being the nation’s top Communist fighter. 

           When talking about Joseph McCarthy, people often think of the McCarthyism era. McCarthyism means “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.” Many of whom were labeled communist sympathizers were unable to continue working during the Red Scare.

            He used his position as chairman of the Committee on Government Operations and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to launch investigations designed to document charges of Communists in government. McCarthy lost support in 1953 when he started attacking the U.S. Army, and suggesting that Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower was protecting subversives. Soon after, the Senate formally condemned him on a vote of 67 to 22 for conduct “contrary to Senate traditions.” The fear of Communist was still remained but McCarthy and McCarthyism was largely ignored thereafter. He later died of alcoholism on May 2, 1957 at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

SOURCES:

<http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m000315>

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/353904/Joseph-R-McCarthy>

<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/mccarthyism/484/>

The range of Islamic beliefs about the proper place of women in society.

       More than half a billion of the women in the world is Islamic but they do not receive enough rights and freedom. Women in Islamic societies and communities face gender-based inequalities associated with the “patriarchal gender system.” The system, regardless of religion, features kin-based, the males are always superior to the women. Islam also gave the women full status as citizens over 1,400 years ago by giving her to right to speak and vote the same as anyone else. Even though the civil law as well as the constitutions of many Islam states provide for equal rights between women and men; however, Islamic family law poses obstacles to women’s equality.   

           Islamic women expect to be appreciated for their mind and characters, not just for their bodies. That’s why they are required to conceal their attractions from men by a strictly modest, straight-forward type of attire. Modest dress does not degrade women, but it discourages lust in men. Within the close family circle, she is free to dress informally and to beautify herself. She is strongly encouraged to make herself attractive for her husband since her beauty is reserved for him. Islam also insists on the right of an individual to have a spouse who belongs exclusively to him/her. It totally rejects the notion that what people feel for each other or the pleasure they derive from an act should be taken as the criteria of right and wrong, and that obedience to the unbridled demands of animal desires should be permitted to dominate the lives of human beings.

        Men could marry as many as they liked and very often they owned women like cattle or sheep. This system is called polygyny. But luckily, Islam gives a woman the right to refuse polygyny for her husband by setting it as a condition during the marriage procedures. If this condition is set, then the woman is granted divorce if her husband marries another while he is still married to her. In the recent past, Islam women exhibited comparatively high rates of fertility and low rates of contraception use because the use of contraception was not encouraged in the society.

     

Citation:

Offenhauer, Priscilla. “Women In Islamic Societies:  A Selected

Review Of Social Scientific Literature.” November 2005. The Liberty of Congress. September 17, 2012.

< http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Women_Islamic_Societies.pdf>.

Islamalways.com. “What Does Islam Really Say About Equality of Women and Men?”. Basic Fact About Islam. June 23, 2008. September 17, 2012.

<http://islamzpeace.com/2008/06/30/what-does-islam-really-say-about-equality-of-women-and-men/>. 

"Me Talk Pretty One Day" - David Sedaris

SOAPTone

Speaker:
David Sedaris. He is the author of the book "Me Talk Pretty One Day."
Occasion: Sedaris moved to Paris and returned to school at the age of forty-one to learn French.
Audience: General audience.
Purpose: To inform the reader about the author's experience in his unusual French class in Paris.Some teachers might look like they're mean but they're actually helping their students. Learning a new language require time, patience and effort.
Subject: The teaching style of Sedaris's French teacher in Paris is quite different. All she spoke was French and she would ask her students questions and then intimidated, insult them. It was hard for the author to understand what the teacher said at first but one day, he could finally understand for the first time every word that she was saying.
Tone: The author's tone was worried and intimidated at first by his classmates and his teacher but at the end of the essay, David's tone was happy and thrilled because he finally understand every word his teacher said for the first time.

Writing Workshop 2 - Thirty Eight Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police.

         In Kew Gardens, Queen, 38 residents in the neighborhood watched a killer stalk and stab Catherine Genovese, their neighbor, in three separate attacks. Nobody called the police during the assault; only one witness called after the witness was dead. On that day, Miss Genovese returned home from work, parked her car like usual and made her way to the light in front of a bookstore where the assailant grabbed and stabbed her. When she screamed for help, some of the apartment houses' lights went on and a man from the upper window in the apartment house warned the assailant to stay away and so he left. Then the murderer returned when all the lights had went off to stab Catherine again. He drove off when he saw the windows were opened and the lights went back on. By the time Miss Gevonese had crawled to the back of the building, the man returned and stabbed her fatally. The police was later received a phone call from one of her neighbor after that man had phoned his friend to ask for advice and crossed the roof of the building to make the call. People were giving out excuses for the reason why they did not inform the police when they saw the assault. Hours later, when the ambulance arrived to take the body of Miss Genovese, everybody came out of their rooms and houses.

Writing Workshop - Obituary

Martha J. Smith
Obituary
Willmar, Minnesota-  Mrs.Martha Jerabek Smith, 78, of 1364 Raven Drive, died Wednesday, Sept. 4, 1973.
Services: Graveside, 12 a.m. Friday in Hills of the Neuse Memory in Willmar. Survived by: 5 daughters and 3 sons. Sullivan's Highland Funeral Services & Crematory of Wilmar.

Journal Entry - Spider-Man

         On a cloudy day, After trapping Spider Man inside the cold water tank, Vulture is planning to carry out the second step of his evil master plan. Inside of the water tank, the shock of hitting the cold water revives Spider man's power. Spider man tries to to shoot his web towards the top but his ejector is empty because he forgot to refill it since the last time he used it. He thinks of the idea of climbing up, but the wall is too wet and slippery for him to get a toehold on. Time passes by and the water level is elevating up to his nose. If Spider man does not think of another idea soon, he would be drown and suffocate. While sinking in the deep water, Spider man is still trying to figure out a way to get out.

Welcome ! :)

         Hello everyone ! My name is Linh Huynh. I am definitely the girly and cheesy type of girl that would go crazy over romance books and movies. My favorite author of all time is Nicholas Spark. I love frozen yogurt, fried chickens, and Ferrero Rocher. Playing video game is not my thing but shopping and watching soap opera are my addiction. Welcome to my blog ! :)