Hammurabi's Code

Recently in Humanities, my class discussed "Hammurabi's Code," which was his version of laws. I think that these laws were unfair and unjust, because he made laws that applied no matter who was at fault. For example, if a son struck his father, one of his hands had to be cut off. This rule would apply even if the father should have been struck by the son for the boy's safety or others'. I think that there should be rules, but ones that are flexible so that only the guilty party would be prosecuted. but I think that it was wise for Hammurabi to enforce some-kind of laws that could be protective to the citizens of his city-state (Babylon).

I think that other civilizations have laws because the government wants to protect the people, the land, the animals, the culture, the religion, and any other thing that were unique to the region. Even thought they might momentarily cause trouble and hardships for the citizens, they would protect other citizens and other things that the government wishes to protect. That is why there are laws about how many animals can be hunted or caught a season, or why there are traffic rules. They protect the region in which the people live. Even a bad ruler (government) is better than no ruler (government) at all. And if you obey the laws, then you have nothing to fear from the government. Only if you disobey the laws do you have to worry. Laws are beneficial for the protection of the civilization(s).

Wordle

Recently in health, my class has been talking about bullying. For our unit project, our class had to write short booklets as if we were part of a bullying situation. Then we had finished our work, we could go onto "Wordle," and mess around. I decided to use the text from my bullying. I also did another one, and it is titled "Julie's Main Problem and Solution."

Domestic Animals Are The Key To Growth Of Tecnology PART: 2

Was there any questions that you may have had? Any challenges?
Can you ....well, sum up what you're saying into two sentences?
-Mr. McQueen

I wonder when the people started to live in permanent homes, because it doesn't happen over night. It must have happened slowly over years, with semi-permanent home, all the way to totally permanent houses. It could have even happened over generations, or only one or two. But how long did it really take? There is a lot of things that we don't know about the Sumerian lifestyle. 

Some of the main things that we know about their life was that domestic animals improved the lives and diet of men. One of the only places that was not affected by the help of these animals was Papua New Guinea. 

Domestic Animals Are the Key to Growth of Technology

Recently in Humanities class, we watch part of a movie based on a book called "Guns, Germs, & Steel." We learned a lot about what the people lived like about 13 thousand years ago, and what they did about their blockage. First of all, the people had to travel with the seasons. Meaning that in winter, they went south, like birds. They also had to follow wherever the game went, so that they were able to continue feeding themselves and the others in their group. They traveled in small groups, probably so that there would be less mouths to feed, but enough that there were many to hunt and track an animal. They would live in caves, for weeks or months at a time.

Once the people realized their problem, they converted from hunting daily or weekly to gathering. No one really knows how long it took the people to successfully turn their hunting moving life of hunting into a permeant house for gathering.

One of the foods that the people ate was sago, a tree. They would cut at the surface of the tree and get to the pulp at the center. This was their "food." The only problems were that sago didn't produce enough calories to sustain a healthy lifestyle, and was very low on protein. It also could not be stored, so they had to gather in small amounts so that it would not go bad. One of the only good things about eating sago versus hunting is that even though it was physically harder, it ended much more successfully.

The people must have realized their problem, but what was the answer? Finally, some one found cereals, like barley and grain. They had a profound impact on some one's health, and was able to be stored for years, meaning less work in the cold months of winter.

Another way that the people went around their problem, was by raising domestic animals. Especially animals like goats. Their milk was good for protein, their fur for making clothes warmer, and their meat for eating when food was scarce. 

There are some places where domestic animals never helped to inhabitants. Such as Papa New Guinea. Their diet was very bad, and was low on protean. So to solve this problem, they some times resorted to eating giant spiders! Because there were no animals of burden, the people spent their time finding and gathering food. 

Domestic animals helped in ways that are amazing other than meat, fur, and milk, some animals are strong enough to carry a yolk to help with the field work. When they helped with the work, people didn't need to work as hard for what they needed, providing more free time for people to develop special talents for certain things. Such as weaving, metal work, or stone work. People even started designing and decorating their own houses. 

This shows that having animals help you advance with the production of good, healthy food, assisted the growth of specialties and tools, which could also be called technology. 

Modern Time V.S. Stone Age

Have you ever stopped to think about how different our world is to the "Early Human" world. We have the luxury of TVs/computers, cars/buses/bikes, schools/education, houses/apartments/condos, medicine/vaccines, food/snacks, and many other things that the early humans didn't have. They had little or no entertainment, they had to walk everywhere, they learned from past experiences or from others of their "group," they had to build their own shelter, and sticks-and-stones home hardly compares to our modern skyscrapers. While we go to the doctor when we are hurt or sick, the early humans had to live with the fact that they were dying. We can have food practically any time of the day that we want it, but they had to scavenge, some times with no luck at all. 

Some people say that we have an advantage to the early humans, because we have all sorts of things that the early humans didn't have, but that may not be true. WE might be at the disadvantage, because we have allowed our bodies to become so sterile and picky about what is admitted into our bodies. Our ancestors ate termites and other insects, and now if anything strange like termites,  were to enter our bodies,  our body would immediately fight against it. Because we are so sterile, anything can and does kill us.

Today in Humanities we talked about this, and what we thought about how our life now-a-days differs from the life of the early humans. We have a "Wall of Thoughts," and on it we put a list of different things that make a civilization. We discussed in class what differed between the categories in the present time, and back when the early humans lived. The categories are;

1. government /politics
2. entertainment /art
3. transportation
4. nature /environment
5. food
6. water
7. resources
8. shelters /buildings
9. economy
10. belief system
11. culture
12. education
13. technology
14. communication

This was a chart that  we can up with:

Kuala Lumpur Early Man

Food:

Cold Storage

Fruit from backyard

Buy ingredients/make food

Berries and leaves

Hunt

Raw meat

Plants that aren’t poisonous

Insects

Water:

Bottled water

Filtered water

Bought water

Fountains, ice

Boxes

Rivers

Lakes

Dig holes in ground

Streams 

Rain

Nature/Environment:

We ruin it (global warming)

Trees

Use fruits and edible plants

Tools

Food water

Metal

Edible plants

Oxygen

Trees

Rivers

Caves

Sticks

Animal bones

Resources:

Tools

Oil 

Steal 

Metal

Bricks 

Plastic

Rubber

Lead

Tin 

Copper 

Gold

Wood

Stones

Fire

Rocks

Pot for cooking

Bones

Mud

Plants

Shelters/buildings:

Apartment

House

Condos

supermarkets

Cabins

Huts

Shopping malls

Caves

Huts

Simple huts

Lean-to

Trees and branches

Technology:

Computers

Protection equipment

Tools

Factories

Electricity

Television

Stairs

Tables

Oven

Clothes

Safes

Refining rocks

Spears

Hand axes

Fire

Hammer

Bones

Stones

Education:

Schools

Tutors

Jobs

Parents

Others 

“Does a learning environment have to be in a school?”

Like Mafatu, knew about nature

Learning from elders

Taught each other

Learned from experience

Hunting

Making tools

Communication:

Languages

Road signs

Hand movements, gestures

Talking

Writing

Reading

Internet

Books

Movies

Video

Letters

Email

Body language

IMing

Cave paintings

Hand gestures

Sign language

Grunts noises

Transportation:

Trucks

Cars

Bikes

Horses

Carriage

Walking

Jogging

Trains

Wheelchairs

Cable cars

Skateboards

Rollerblades

Speedboats

Sailboats

Surfboards

Feet

Walking

Running

Economy:

Stock markets

Government

Community/cooperation

Tourism/traveling

Money

Currencies

Jobs

Bartering

Trading

Government/Politics:

Court

Jury

People in charge

Minister

President

King

Mayor

Placed ruler vs. elected ruler

Teamwork

Law chief

No designed ruler

Families

Teamwork

Belief System:

Buddhism

Christianity

Islam

Religions

Believing in yourself (not giving up)

Consequences

Ceremonies

They (Early Humans) did not have religions

Entertainment/Art:

Games

Tv

Internet

Movies

Clothing

Amusement parks

Cinemas  

Music

Artists

Museums

Books

Dancing

Hunting ceremonies

Making necklaces

Drawing on (Cave) walls

Jewelry

Cave paintings

Culture

Way of cooking, eating, and dancing

dances

Ceremonies

Way of life

Anthem

Accessories

Different values

Food

Hunt animals

Celebrate for dead people

Tribes

Some of the things in each category were from the early human times, others were from modern times. I'll let you think about which ones go in which category.

The early humans had a very different life style from the modern life style.

Civilazations

What make a certain place a civilization? Well, I think that a civilization must have business, like McDonald's, and other work places. There must be a government, that helps and controls all of the economic changes throughout the area. The law and order that the government creates also assists the protection of the civilians. Also, I think that there should be some form or another of entertainment. Such as a movie theatre, theatre, music station, and an place to make and/or purchase art pieces. To create a save, good place to live, and also helpful to the environment, is to have public transportation. Buses are a good solution to the pollution of the earth. I think that there should also be a phone line, to contact others. An Internet line is also helpful to businesses. There should also be schools, to teach the young children what t hey need to know for the future.

Appropriate Blogging

• What does appropriate blogging look like?

I think that appropriate blogging looks respective of everyone, and doesn't include any swear words.

• Who is the audience reading your blog?

Anyone in the whole world can read our blogs, so we should know this, and not write for a certain person, because anyone can read it.

• How much information do you want to share
    with that audience?

I think that you should share as much information on your blog that you would to a person you just met. You would want them to know your first name, some of your hobbies, the general area of where you live, and you likes and dislikes. Other information isn't very important, and is unsafe to give out to just anyone.

S.P.C.A. -"SAVE THE ANIMALS!"

These people donate their time and energy to protect animals, and I think that it is a very worthy cause. I was amazed to learn that there are so many animals that don't have a home, and that so many local animals have been abused or neglected. 

There is so much that you can do to help. They need volunteers to assist with the animal care, donations of money and stuff that is you don't want any more. they have a jumble sale store, where you can donate things to raise funds for the shelter less animals. You can also sign the petition to save the animals on their website. This is a worthy cause, that is help tons of animals every year! The people have to put to sleep about 75% of the animals that they get every year, because there just isn't enough room in the clinic or funds to take care of them. Only about 25% of the animals brought in every year are adopted, and some are already on the death row, unless some one adopts them soon. I think that people should do their part to protect their friends, the animals, like cats and dogs. PLEASE HELP THE ANIMALS! DO YOUR PART TO PROTECT THEM! DONATE SUPPLIES TO SPCA! 

This is the link  to their website: http://www.spca.org.my/

"Call It Courage" -Armstrong Sperry

The book was alright. Some of the things that I liked about it were that the author described everything, that we where able to create a connection with the main character, Mafatu, and that the content of the book show the reader what the author's understanding of courage is. Some of the things that I didn't like were that the author didn't explain a lot about Mafatu's background and his culture, Mafatu thought too highly of himself, and Sperry made it seem like Mafatu's feelings were the only feelings.

The author describing everything was a big help to me, because I am a visual learner. The precise description of every last thing helped me grasp the island better than I could have otherwise. Also, the author made it feel like I was seeing through Mafatu's eyes when he explained everything around Mafatu using all of the senses.

The way that the author made the reader connect with the main character, Mafatu, was that he wrote Mafatu's feelings, his pain, and his thoughts. This made me feel as if I was there alongside Mafatu on his journey to find his courage.

In the book and through the main character, the author expressed to the reader what he  understood was the meaning of courage. He showed this by having Mafatu's thoughts and actions display his ideas.

Sperry didn't show a lot about Mafatu's background or his culture, and it is nice to know at least a little background information on the main character(s). It would have been better if he had written about the history of Mafatu's people, or about Mafatu's culture, like why they did certain things, and why they worshiped certain gods. 

I didn't like that Mafatu thought so highly of himself, by thinking how he would kill the boar and would be like by all of the people on his home island. Even though he knew himself a fearful boy, he used that to praise himself. I wish that he would have just confessed that he was afraid, and left it at that, not gone on and on about it.

The last thing that I disliked about the book, was that Sperry made it seem like what Mafatu felt were the only feelings. He didn't write about the people on Mafatu's island were feeling, or the animals around him, or the man-eaters either. Only about what Mafatu thought and felt. The book could have been more open minded if Sperry had included what other charachters thought and felt as well as Mafatu.

In conclusion, the book was alright. There were some things that I really like and some that I disliked very much. Some of the things that I liked about it were that the author described everything, that we where able to create a connection with the main character, Mafatu, and that the content of the book show the reader what the author's understanding of courage is. Some of the things that I didn't like were that the author didn't explain a lot about Mafatu's background and his culture, Mafatu thought too highly of himself, and Sperry made it seem like Mafatu's feelings were the only feelings.

Weekends

It's funny, thinking about weekends. I love them because you are out of school, and you can sleep in late. But I really dislike them too, because you aren't around your friends, and you are stuck with your family. I'm always sitting in my room, trying to chat with people on the BBS, and calling people on my cell phone, trying to get connected with my friends from school. But then when Monday rolls around, I don't want to get up early, and I can't wait to see my friends again, and tell them about my weekend. But I dislike having to go to school and get more homework. I wish there was a way to not have to get homework, and only go to the fun classes, and have all the time we wanted to talk.

The Ms Dance

The Ms Dance is all that you hear about when you walk the halls of 6th grade during lunch. "Who is going with Who" and "So and So is going with So and So" etc. The thing that amazes me is that the dance is about a month away! Some of my friends have been asked, some haven't. Some already have dates, some don't. A wise person once said, "In the Middle School, there will be lots of fuss about 'whom is going with whom' and so forth. But one should not concern themselves with such folly. For once on a pair separates, and another will follow, and another, and another. Then people will form a new pair, and then another shall follow, and yet another. These people prove the domino effect." They were correct.

My Friend's Rhymes

"This is my first time to rime,

I like to eat lime,

I bleed out slime,

and I'm worth only one dime.

I don't know what is the time,

my sister is nine,

I really rock at mime,

this world is more than mine,

and these are all the words that rhyme with rime!"

-Rionna, Mitsu, Maddie, and ME!

My Move

My name is Kate. I'm enrolled at an international school in Malaysia. I recently moved here from Texas, and the weather is very similar. Hot, humid, and very animal filled. When we moved here, my family went to many popular tourist attractions, such as the Batu Cave, the Petronas Towers, the Petrosains Science Center, and many other favored locations. I am slowly coming to like this new home.