The Weekly Beast

What They Are Missing

weeklybeast — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:52:49 +0000

Its become a sort of stereotype. How students are bored of school work. It’s unfortunate but its true and there is something that really works. Why don’t teachers put a more hands-on approach to their teaching and find ways to make it interesting. Another way is to let students constantly share what they come up with, but not just that, they do so in a way that may have to do with making up their own character or maybe saying what they have to say in a taboo voice. Being careful not to turn the class into an improv comedy club, teachers can create an energetic atmosphere where students will definitely pay attention.

So just to give an example of what I mean, lets say we’re in a US History classroom. And if you ask me, history is the most boring subject of school. So instead of maybe copying what the teacher has on the board and listening to what he or she has to say about the English colonies, I would take a different approach…

For the signing of the Declaration of Independence, instead of just telling my class, I would have them get together and make a skit where the students themself would be assigned a character. Each student/character will be given a day to know more about their character and use what they know in a short, in class play of the signing.

I can almost guarantee using this sort of philosophy with students will make learning a lot less of a burden on both the students and the teachers side.

So you tell me what you think, especially if you are a teacher yourself. Please comment below with your questions, comments, and suggestions.

IRAN: The Election, The Fraud, The Genocide

weeklybeast — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:40:18 +0000

THE ELECTION
As the elections came by, many Iranians became excited and hopeful. 2/3 of the population was under 30 and they voted for a candidate named Mosavi instead of the former Ahmadinejad. If you want to go in detail, Mosavi was an Independent Reformist while Ahmadinejad is a Conservative. Before the elections there were tons of Mosavi fans peacefully demonstrating. On July 12, 2009, most people in Iran were happy as could be could be, and most of those people were Mosavi fans. They believed that this election was not going to be rigged because the Guardian Council that takes care of the votes would do their jobs.
Everyone was cheerful, excited, until the election was over. The results came in Ahmadinejad 63% and Mosavi 33%.

THE FRAUD
If you live in the US, its hard to say “THE ELECTIONS WERE RIGGED” on an election in this country. That’s what makes the US so great. That we can vote and for someone the rig the votes is incredibly hard and has its punishments. But in Iran, they have ballot voting and it was obvious they cheated and/or Ahmadinejad paid ghetto people to vote for him. Why? First of all, they said they counted 39,165,191 within a few hours (BS). And what’s just as stupid is, Khemenie (the biggest authority in Iran) said that Ahmadinejad won by a 30% margin. What an idiot, if you want to rig an election, you don’t say he won by a long shot, you say it was close. Oh and did you know Khemenie is a fan of Ahmadinejad before and after the elections? These are just a few reasons why it was rigged. And the Iranian society soon gathered this information and became truly pissed…

THE GENOCIDE
The very next day there were over 30,000,000 protesters in the streets of Iran. Peacefully protesting with Mosavi. Usually Ahmadinejad dosen’t take that but to seem like Iran has democracy, he went ahead and let it. But guess what, the protesters didn’t stop. It went on for about 3 days when peaceful turned into violent. The protestors demanded Ahmadinejad out of office. Soon, Khemenie came on television to say that “The protesting is officially illegal. Stop this madness or there will be strict punishments.” Did they stop? No, they became angrier and more determined to continue the protest. By now there was a bounty out for Mosavi. As people demonstrated, they began getting attacked by the Basij (this is a type of police that does what ever the government wants them to do, even kill). The basij rode motorcycles all around Iran and they attacked people w/ police batons. At night they invaded a local university and killed anyone inside. The next day more people were killed, shot, wounded, stabbed. One of these people was Neda. You might have heard of her on the news. This is disturbing:

That night more people were killed in attacks. They attacked at night so video cameras couldn’t capture anything. The power was out as an attempt to block off internet failed. People were Twittering, facebooking, and sending pics to Flickr. That very night, the protesters set up boards with nails on them and laid them on the roads so the Basij would mess up their tires. There was a cat and mouse chase going on and people all around the world saw the news about Neda. There were protests everywhere, in the US: Houston, LA, New York outside the UN, and everywhere persians thrived. In Houston they have a peaceful demonstration by the Water Wall at the Galleria every Sunday at sunset. In the end, Iran got a hold on the media and cut out reporters. At some point CNN described it as a “Media Blackout”. Soon, CNN got a call from someone who escaped Iran, she said people were shooting protesters, pushing them off bridges, kids and elderly lie dead on the roads. The Basij did everything they could to stop the protesters and kill them. Obama commented on the event and said that the world is watching and they stop killing their own people.

THE “SHOULD WE INVADE IRAN AND HELP” DEBATE

I have 2 words: Bull Sh**. Anyone who has a decent brain would think this out and realize the minute we declare entering Iran, Ahmdinejad will blame the US because he’ll say ‘the US sent the protesters here to disrupt Iran’s election’. And if you know Ahdmadinejad even to the slightest you would know that he will send tanks in the streets and blow every protesters head off. Yes, I know McCain said we SHOULD go in but my opinion (basically fact) is not based on a bias politics. I mean it to the fullest extent, I hope Obama dosen’t listen to the few idiots that say we should go there. And Mccain, you think he gives a rats a** about Iranians. What happened to Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran senator McCain?
All he wants is the oil and the nukes, so they can stick their own trashy government in Iran and boss the place around because we helped them. Oh and what about a war w/ Iran? That is not what we want nor what the protesters want. Obama has handled the situation perfectly. Think of it this way, lets say YOU are willing to put your life on the line to destroy the Iranian government, you don’t want some other country to do it and they claim the glory! Plus you don’t want a hero to keep asking for oil and sending your economy down the drain. Could it be any clearer?

In the end, good luck protesters, the world has a huge respect for you!

Someone will ask me why did I type this. Because I hate AhmadineCRAP and the Islamic Republic of Iran. They kill their own people and everybody knows it… GENOCIDE. Iran, you are not a democracy and the world knows it.

The Car Warranty that Never Was

weeklybeast — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:38:22 +0000

Ever got those calls that claim your car’s warranty is expired and that you should purchase a new warranty? They call you and say something like this: “This is a call from Warranty Help Desk, we have called to remind you that the auto warranty on your car is about to be expired and we highly recommend that you extend your service. Please press 1 to speak with a live agent.” If you ignore the calls, they become more urgent. After a few missed calls, another recording comes on… “This is an urgent message from Warranty Help Desk. We have informed you in the past regarding your car’s warranty. You no longer have a warranty and are required to purchase one. Press 1 now to be connected with the closest operator.” I have gotten these calls, a few of my friends have gotten these calls. And after a while I (curiously) pressed 1… “This is Todd from Warranty Help Desk may I have the year, make, and model of your car.” “You called me, shouldn’t you know!?” “That’s right but we’re just given a list of numbers to call regarding the expiration of vehicles.” “Where are you calling from?” “Cedar Point, Ohio.” “Are you aware that my car’s warranty expired years ago?” “I’m sorry about that, have a nice day.” I thought the calls would end but they didn’t, I pressed 1 again and got transferred to a manager… “Warranty Help Desk this is Lora, may I have the year, make, and model of your car.” “Can I speak to your manager.” “You are speaking with the manager how may I help you.” “I am on the national do not call list, please don’t call me again.” “I’m sorry about the confusion but we work for the government, we won’t be able to stop calling until your warranty has been set. Have a nice day.” Yup, they are crazy, rude, and unbelievable. The same day I reported them to the Do Not Call list and they never called back! After roaming the internet I found THIS, someone claiming to have been working at these Warranty Hell Holes. This is what he said: “Well, let me just put it this way. I know whole lot about these phone calls, the extended warranty this that, does it go something like this ? Warranty Division my name is Bubba, May i please have the year, make and model of your vehicle, and it usually has to be a car between the years of 1999 and 2007 if it’s a 2008 the car does not qualify right ? Im just curious if you ever figured out that these people do not ask you for your address they dont ask for your social security number they dont ask where you bought the car they simply ask for the year make and model, your first and last name, your zip code and how many miles the car has at this time, also before i forget if the car is in good running condition if it has any leaks and if the check engine light was on also, if you meet those requirements they would transfer you over to a so called Warranty Specialist who is going to ask you the same questions over again and possibly rip you off, but how do i know all this, believe it or not, i worked for this fu**ing company and once i figured out what they were doing i left, they are mostly going after the elderly plus im even in a law suit with them right now for sexual harassment, folks if they call you my advice would be saying ” i know where you guys are, i know what you guys are doing, all the employees you guys had are turning against you scum bags and you’ll be closing ur business soon ” and thats it, WHY ? because it is the truth, they harass people they don’t just call you they even call their employees they call their family’s and rip them off as well, once they do it they fire those nice employees they have, believe it or not, they are not in Oregon they are not in California not in Michigan not in any of those states they are actually in Florida… so please, if they call you with those messages not just auto warranty messages, also security system messages for your homes, messages for debt, credit card messages every automated message or so called call you get just tell them not to bother you to place you on a DNC list and hang up, I will keep you guys posted on whats going on with them…

NOTICE: I’M GUESSING THEY GET OUR NUMBERS FROM THOSE WIN A CAR THINGS AT THE MALL. THE ONES THAT SAY YOU CAN WIN A FREE CAR IF YOU SIGN UP.

Hidden Threats

weeklybeast — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:32:19 +0000

Hey! You may or may not have heard of the Columbine High School shootings. If you haven’t heard of it, look it up before reading any further.

So we all agree that what those boys did is crazy and un-human, but was there a message from that. Did you know that there have been about 300 school shootings in the US since the 60s? Did you know that in the year 1995 ALONE, about 2 people in China died due to gun violence, another 5 in Russia, and over 10,000 in the US! That is a STUNNING number! To think that it is easier to buy a gun here then it is in Iran is disturbing.

Now about the school shootings, what should somebody do to stop these pointless shootings? Well one way to look at it is to ban rapid fire guns from the public. Because I can assure you, rapid fire guns have no use but to kill more people faster. But there is something else that is INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE and almost effortless that EVERYONE can do to prevent school shootings…

These mass murderers have been trying to send a message, there still is bullying in schools. And it may not be direct bullying but it is still bullying. The Columbine shooter’s main purpose was to destroy the school and their pupils and unfortunately they got away with just that. We have to realize that, the answer lies right in front of us.

Unfortunately, many adults have the same moral. It is that whenever a teacher/parent sees a child getting bullied, they say he/she should get over it or, they have to learn to ignore it. This “thought” is absurd and obviously hasn’t been working. And if you are an adult and you follow that routinely, how dare you. Open your eyes, you are an administrator and you should know better. What do I think should be done about school shootings? Here is what I would do:

Hold a major band on rapid fire guns (including TEC guns) and semi/automatic guns
Teach respecting one another to students at a young age
Severe punishments to bullies and/or people that make fun of other

Thank for reading!

Haters

weeklybeast — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:27:00 +0000

You would think that people would respect one and others opinions but obviously not. This country has a thing about homosexuals. You can’t deny that you’ve heard someone “hating” on gays. I’ve usually been able to see both sides of the story but I must be missing something! Why is it that we have so many people, who strongly HATE (not disagree, hate) gay people…

Religion. Its unfortunate that in the end of the day, its someones beliefs that judges a person. But see, I have nothing against gay people and nothing against homophobic people. The only problem I have is the fact that these “haters” will do everything they can to get everyone else to believe in what they believe. It is NOBODYS right to enforce your position and beliefs onto someone else, especially for the fact that its about love.

It amazes me how some people feel like they have the right and position to do such a thing.

So please, tell me if I’m missing something here. Anything! I just want to know why people are so hyped up.

Apples and Oranges

weeklybeast — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:04:29 +0000

In the field of computer science, Macs have been Macs while PCs have been PCs for a very long time. Both know their positions in life, but it seems that one of these pieces of hardware is in for some fame. Apple has slowly become more dominant over the past couple of years since Vista came along. Obviously Vista failed and the word got around. We found out that in the past 2 years there has been a sudden increase of PC users switching to Macs. The epic fail of Vista allowed buyers to actually examine the Apple products, something that Microsoft never wants to hear. Why? Because these longtime PC users meet Macs and well, they fall in love. We have too! As a matter of fact, I’m typing this on a Macbook Pro.

Now lets be honest. Are you a PC users? If you are, have you ever checked out a Mac and spent just a little time learning how to use it? I thought so. Although Macs are beast, there is a boundary. If you run a financial business or something of the sort, would you buy your employees an iMac, or would you buy them a business/enterprise-friendly PC?

So for the rest of the world, there is one, simple, and elegant answer… It’s a Mac.

Please comment and tell us what you think!