View-Master jumpscares

                Today in Western Civilization we took our final test before finals on Christianity during the Pax Romana. I was digging around in my toy box, and found my dad’s old View-Master, which I brought to school with one of his Philadelphia Flyers discs in. Mr. Schick and some of the class thought it was cool, so I’m bringing it and the rest of the discs with me to class Tuesday next week (maybe on exam day?). The test was only a page long, and I unfortunately may have gotten an eighty-nine on it due to multiple misspellings and one wrong question. The one question I got wrong was the one about the date of Christianity becoming the official religion of Rome, which I’m pretty sure I answered with the date of the final Roman emperor coming into power. After everyone handed in their tests, Mr. Schick went over the answers (and the best worst answers, maybe we should add extra pages in the books Mr. Dannenfelser has for them). After that we had the rest of the period to do as we pleased. I would like to say this is the last blog I will write (At least for a long time) so if you didn’t read this slow enough to get enough enjoyment out of it, read it again (Thanks for a great year Mr. Schick).

The countdown begins...7 days of school left

                Today in Western Civilization we finished our PowerPoint on Christianity during the Pax Romana. First, we reviewed the slide about Constantine’s battle that was won after praying to the Christian God. Next, we went on to the slide about the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. After the battle that Constantine won in God’s name, Christianity is approved by him and gains in grows. In 380 AD, it becomes the official religion of Rome. After this begins the decline of the Roman Empire. The Roman military becomes too weak, as the land Rome controls is too large. The taxes become too high, trade is disrupted, and the gap between the rich and the poor increases. No one cares about public affairs, there is a lot of disloyalty, and a population decrease. Politically, there is a division of the Empire because Constantine had the capitol moved to Byzantine. The last Roman emperor is named Romulus Augustus, who rules in 476 AD and is only fourteen.

Confirmation rehearsal is today....whoooo....

Today we finished our presentation on Christianity during the Pax Romana. Christians were like the Jews, monotheistic, and were persecuted by the general population because of their religion. Christians could be persecuted through (from best to worst) exile, imprisonment, execution, crucifixion, burning, or being killed by wild animals. These were the physical punishments, however your business might be attacked or you might get kidnapped, if the Romans thought it was necessary. The Romans would not get in trouble for doing so, be it the government or someone off the streets. As things began to go wrong in the Empire, a scapegoat was needed, and Christianity was the perfect choice (Ironically, the term scapegoat is biblical in origin and the lamb is a highly valued symbol in Christianity). However Christianity kept growing for reasons such as: It embraced all people (the enslaved, men and women, and the poor), gave hope to the powerless, offered a personal relationship with God, and promised eternal life after death. Much later, in 312 AD, the emperor Constantine was going to fight a key battle. His wife convinced him to pray to the Christian God for victory, and he did. Constantine then saw a cross in the sky with the Greek words ‘Ev TouTw Nika,’ which means ‘In this sign conquer.’ Constantine then ordered his troops to put crosses on their shields. They then won the battle.

Saul=Paul

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Christianity during the Pax Romana. Jesus was one of many preachers, however he was different in a substantial way. Jesus was believed by his followers to be the Messiah, come to end the world and bring the faithful to the Kingdom of God. Jesus was considered to be human and divine, and was deemed a threat by the Roman government and crucified. His followers believed that he was Resurrected three days later and went to heaven. His apostles (close followers then started to spread His teachings). Christians began to be persecuted and killed for their beliefs, especially by Saul of Tarsus. Saul eventually had a conversion (not described here) and was rechristened Paul. Paul then spread Christianity and it’s teachings far and wide across the known Earth, and started new churches as well as keeping in contact with those churches through letters, now known as the Letters of St. Paul. Paul talked of pre-destination the most, and spread the message of Christianity farther than Jesus did, making him a major kick-starter of Christianity. Jews and Christians were monotheistic, they didn’t believe in Roman gods. This, combined with the way Jesus taught by empowering the lowly, made them prime candidates for persecution. During the early years of Christianity and Pax Romana, it was easy to spread word to different places, and the poor, desperate Romans were a receptive audience to these teachings.

Still an 88...

                Today in Western Civilization we went over our tests and started our next unit on Christianity during the Pax Romana. First, we got our tests back. Then we started going over the answers. Despite CJ’s beautiful reading of the answers, I think my Russian voice topped it. I got quite a few questions wrong, but even with Mr. Schick’s slight apology, I think the question about ‘an insane tyrant’ could have been worded a little better. Unfortunately, there were no mismarks on the quiz and I still have an eighty-eight. After going through the test Mr. Schick loaded up the PowerPoint for our next unit, Christianity during the Pax Romana. He started out by telling us about how the Republic, is gone and the Emperor has all the power, despite there being consuls and other governmental processes belying a Republic. Meanwhile, Jesus is starting Christianity, which we learn information about through the four gospels. Jesus was different from the other preachers because he taught about love and personal relationships with God. Jesus’ teachings, actions, and miracles also obviously had an effect on people, as Christianity is now a leading world religion.

I have an eight..... I have a nine..... HOOH...... eighty-nine!

                Today in Western Civilization we got out test grades while three of our classmates completed their tests because of being absence. I did not have any homework as of yet to complete because I got it all done the night before (and Western Civilization was the first class) so I sat on the floor next to Matt. Matt’s computer wasn’t working, so we messed around on mine. Eventually I had to get up because sitting on the floor doesn’t agree with me for some reason (my legs fall asleep) so I went back to my chair. Later, when Mr. Schick was done grading the tests that were done, I went up and got an eighty-eight (because it was impossible to get an eighty-nine) and sat back down. Later Mr. Schick approached me on an issue that he wanted to know about because I’m generally considered conservative. Mr. Schick wanted to know about the news coverage of President Trump’s private interactions with the Russians and how Fox News was covering it. My assumption was that Fox News was avoiding the issue, or if it was mentioned it wasn’t a prime story, just more of a notification. I looked it up and apparently a lot of Fox News is playing it down, ignoring it, or as Sean Hannity put it, saying it’s ‘fake news’. I was a little worried at first, however I did notice that the source of this information is CNN, a competing and left news organization, so I’m not exactly going to trust them one-hundred percent on not over-exaggerating.

My grandparents are here this week for my Confirmation. Not that it applies here, but I'm putting that out there since I can't think of a better title. (Record length title)

                Today in Western Civilization we had our test on Ancient Rome. I think the test was around fifty-six questions, but I’m not sure on that. Either way, I finished it pretty quickly for my normal test taking time. I can almost guarantee I’m not getting a one-hundred on this test, but I got most of the questions right. I’m not sure whether or not we reviewed how long it takes until a consul can run again (I thought they couldn’t come back, probably was ten years) and I couldn’t remember what modern-day Gaul was. Lastly, I also didn’t remember the name of the girl Sextus raped (didn’t have that in my notes, my fault). Otherwise, the test was easy. I felt like some of the answers for the different emperors’ section could have applied to multiple of the different statements listed, however I gave my best answers. After taking the test I finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God for Mrs. Zurkowski’s class, and watched YouTube when the rest of the class was done with their test.

Finding Nero: A Pixar story

                Today in Western Civilization we did some review on our test for Friday and watched a little bit of the movie about Nero (Yay!). Mr. Schick did our Moment of Zen (I would like to mention, if everything we know is wrong, then wouldn’t that mean that the knowledge of knowing that everything is wrong is wrong?) and we proceeded with class. Mr. Schick then called random questions from his test and gave us a general idea of what some of the questions are about. Normally we would have the review day on the day before the test, however we don’t have class tomorrow so I get an extra day to study for the test. After Mr. Schick exhausted his stack of questions for the test, we watched the beginning of the video. The beginning immediately goes into Rome burning, while super stressed-out Nero tries to do what he can (not much) to help the people. After the city burns, Nero’s advisor tells him to rule like the gods would, and Nero begins his quest towards bankruptcy. Rome is being put back together in a more beautiful form, and Nero is extremely OCD about it. Nero continues on with the building of Rome and loots the temples of their money and treasures in order to pay for Rome’s reconstruction. Nero shows multiple signs of insanity and bursts of hatred throughout, and it doesn’t help when he has total control over Rome. His own Senators plot to kill him, however their plot is revealed by one of the slaves of a conspirator. Multiple of the Senators are killed and tortured in the process (Through the usage of salt in the eye), and the Senator that gets the salt begins spouting names of all the Senators in on the plot (possibly some that aren’t, just so he can keep his eye) and those Senators are immediately murdered discretely. At this point Nero decides he’s going to perform a tragedy onstage for his Senators, and all the Senators can do is applaud. Ironically enough, I didn’t think he was that bad, with the exception of him dropping his sword in the middle of his speech.

I wanted to watch Nero!

                Today in Western Civilization we finished our movie on Caesar. It starts out with Caesar talking to Mark Antony about a revolt in the legion. Caesar has Antony decimate the legion, meaning one in ten mutineers are killed (in the movie, they were hung by their wrists and had their bodies smashed to death with a wooden mallet). Pompey wants to out wait Caesar until his supplies are depleted, however the aristocrats are more worried about money than winning or the cost of life, as the army needs to be paid. They eventually pressure Pompey into attacking early, and he does. Pompey does not want to attack for tactical reasons, and despite Pompey’s doubts the aristocrats expect him to win, and even throw a feast before he leaves for when Pompey returns successful. Caesar reads Pompey’s movements and lures his cavalry into a type of ambush made by his foot soldiers. Despite the great difference in numbers, Caesar eventually wins, and has Pompey killed. The general that betrayed Caesar kept fighting, but was killed in a conflict later. Caesar lets the senators that supported Pompey live (maybe a mistake). Caesar becomes dictator for six months, then for life. Rome has now become an empire. Caesar rules well for about four months, but is eventually assassinated by his senators.

When you ask for a hat and get murder instead

                Today in Western Civilization we continued watching our movie on Tiberius Gracchus. Despite his friends trying to stop him, Tiberius has Octavius removed from the tribunal council. This leads to the Senators talking about Tiberius trying to seize power as king. The Senators eventually rile up the Romans enough that they become a mob, and vandalize Tiberius’ house and destroy his possessions. Tiberius decides to run for a second term as tribunal, despite it being against the law so that the Senate cannot prosecute him for ‘crimes against Rome’ in court. As Tiberius approaches the stand to make a speech, he taps his head multiple times as a signal to his bodyguard, and this is misread by the Senators as Tiberius asking his bodyguards to bring his crown. Tiberius is then beaten to death by the Senators, despite his bodyguard’s best efforts. Tiberius’ body is dumped in the river and forgotten. After that we began a video on Caesar. The video begins with Caesar fighting the Gaul’s, and the Gaul’s appear to be winning. However, at the last moment, Caesar signals the cavalry and they demolish the Gaul’s. Caesar is on his way back to Rome, as the war is over, and the Senate becomes worried that Caesar will attempt to cease power on his way into Rome if he does not disband his army. The Senate overpressures Caesar to disband his army, and Caesar does not like the terms. Caesar doesn’t disband his army, and Rome is evacuated to Greece. Pompey (a Senator and general) leads and army against Caesar and loses after many years of fighting.

Revenge of the Fifth! (Or Cinco De Mayo)

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our movie on the life of the general Tiberius Gracchus. Tiberius was continuing his attack on Carthage, and Carthage eventually fell. Tiberius was made a hero, and the Romans demolished and burned down Carthage itself. All of the remaining Carthaginians were made into slaves and brought back to Rome. As Tiberius moved on to start a campaign to take Spain, he sees a woman whose cart is flipped over by his troops and she says that her land was taken from her. Tiberius has his troops fix the cart and care for the people while he visits Octavian’s latifundia. While this conversation goes on, there is the infamous quote “Just grab some land!” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ-d3nHRBh4) and Tiberius learns of the aristocrats stealing land from farmers. Tiberius leaves for Spain early, and engages in combat against the ‘barbarians’. Tiberius’ forces are promptly surrounded, and they are forced to come to a peace treaty with Spain, however Tiberius claims to speak for Rome instead of his commander, as Tiberius is the only one the Spanish leaders will talk to. Tiberius and his troops go back to Rome and face trial (even though the populous thinks of them as heroes) for making an unsanctioned peace treaty with the Spaniards. However, the council relents and Tiberius is released from punishment. Tiberius then decides to run for office as a tribal leader. He succeeds, and the people love him as he causes as much disruption to the general populous as possible as he tries to improve the farmer’s lives.

Obi-Wan suggests having a fully stocked utility belt. Guess who forgot their lightsabers?

                Today in Western Civilization we finished our PowerPoint on Ancient Rome. I just want to mention that today is Star Wars day and that I forgot to bring my lightsabers to school. We began the section of the PowerPoint designated to the emperors of Rome, and we started off on Tiberius. Tiberius ruled from 14 AD to 37 AD, and was a good general, but a reluctant emperor. After the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome so he wouldn’t have to be emperor anymore, and he died at age 77. Next was Caligula, who ruled from 37 AD to 41 AD, and won a power struggle to become emperor. He was cruel, extravagant, and perverse (basically insane), but was eventually assassinated by a group of Praetorian guards, Senators, and the imperial court. They then tried to re-establish the Republic, however they failed. Claudius was then elected emperor, and ruled from 41 AD to 54 AD. He had many, many infirmities, mostly to do with cerebral palsy, but despite these infirmities he was a good emperor. He was only picked as emperor because he was the last male in his family, but he ruled well, built many roads, aqueducts, canals, and started conquering Britain. Unfortunately, his last wife poisoned him because she wanted her son Nero to be emperor immediately. Nero ruled from 54 AD to 68 AD. He emphasized the arts, however he wasn’t very smart. There was a large fire in Rome in 64 AD, and he made almost no effort to do anything about it. After this fire, he wanted to rebuild Rome majestically, however he overspent, and had to raid temples for money. Historians tend to dislike Nero for this, and his name even encodes 666 in some format, making him associated with the apocalypse because of his Christian persecution and killing.

Octavian, not Octavius

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. Keep in mind, I have yet to look up the notes for the stuff that I missed on Caesar’s life, but I will do so tonight. We started on the slide that was titled sic semper tyrannis meaning “Thus always to tyrants”. This slide told about Caesar’s assassination in the Senate by his own Senators and his being stabbed twenty-three times. There may or may not be some play in from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, but Caesar’s death is historically accurate. Caesar’s throne is inherited by Octavian, who is his adopted son and grandnephew, and is eighteen years old. This is considered the end of the Roman Republic. The Senators that caused Caesar’s death were not punished. Octavian makes a new triumvirate, consisting of Mark Antony, and good general, and Lepidus, a trained politician. Eventually Octavian forces Lepidus to retire, but Octavian and Mark Antony become rivals. Mark Antony partners with Cleopatra of Egypt personally, politically, and economically. However, Octavian wins at the Battle of Actium, and Octavian becomes the unchallenged ruler of Rome. Octavian is renamed Augustus, meaning “exalted one”. He is also given the title imperator meaning “supreme military commander”, which is where the word emperor is derived from. Rome becomes an empire at this point. Octavian rules for forty years (from 27 BC-14 AD), and this time of stability and prosperity are known as Pax Romana, which lasts for 207 years (27 BC-180 AD). During his rule Octavian: expanded the Roman Empire into Africa, started a civil service to run the government that built roads, collected taxes, ran postal, administered grain supply, built aqueducts and building, and ran the police and a sort of fire department. Octavian eventually died of natural causes, and the age of emperors began.

WEST POINT OUTING WITH THE 3VA!!!

                Instead of going to school on Friday, I was on my way to West Point. Granted, the bus trip was more than four hours long, but it was worth it. When we got to West Point (not the campus may I add, just some woods around it) and we began the three mile hike up bull hill. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good landscape pictures, as I didn’t bring a camera, but the view is pretty good from the top. I finally got a bull hill pin this year (they ran out early last time) and we went down the mountain to our campsite. The adults had set up camp while we were hiking there, so we just messed around for the rest of the night and got settled. The next morning, we woke up early and did some PT with our cadet (we called him Omo because his real name was a lot harder to say) and ate breakfast. Afterwards we went to a live demonstration of tactical maneuvers and some people parachuted in from a helicopter. I had control of a group of about seven scouts and we went around camp and did stations. Some were physical like the Ranger challenge or fitness, and some were more practical like Fire building. There were also many different demonstrations and other things to go see, like a jeep, holding a saw (a suppressive LMG) and a police exhibit. After a long day of stations, we played some ultimate frisbee and other games with our cadet and ate dinner (Lucky me, I got my hands on an MRE). Oddly enough, out of nowhere Evan Tridone shows up at the event, and we end up in the same spot at the rave/concert/dance party/giant bonfire event that night. In the morning, we packed up and left to return to Maryland. Unfortunately, due to complications we did not get a tour of the campus this year, so we went straight back. Apologies for turning this in so late, but as you can see I was a little preoccupied.

Why welfare isn't always the best solution

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. First, we went over the Punic Wars in brief detail. After the Punic Wars, there was a large influx of slaves into Italy, about 50,000 Carthaginians and 150,000 Greek POWs, and others. By the end of the 2^nd century there were over a million slaves in Italy. While they were out at war, many small farmers lost their land to aristocrats. This land was then added to different latifundias, and slaves were made to work on them. This put much of the middle class out of work, and in turn to keep the people from revolting, free bread and entertainment was provided for their benefit (I’m sorry, but this sounds to me like why welfare is pushed so much by the Democrats, which is so they can get more votes from the people on it who don’t try to work) so then they wouldn’t pull themselves out of poverty and never got into a better social standing. Tiberius Gracchus actually wanted to improve the middle class’ living standards by not using government welfare, but was unsuccessful. Other military generals saw this and liked the idea, and gave spoils to their men after fighting battles. This eventually made soldier’s loyalty to their leader, and not Rome.

The Puny Wars

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. We went over some past slides, and then moved into some new ones comparing the US government to Rome’s government. In the Executive branch of Rome, Rome had two consuls with a one year term each, they controlled the military and had veto power over the other. There could also be a dictator appointed for a six-month period in times of crisis. In the Roman Legislative branch, there were about three-hundred senators, all aristocrats, who had a life term and were elected through Tribal or Centuriate methods. Although there were 193 to start with, they eventually moved up to 373 senators. In the Judicial branch of Rome, there were Praetors, who were elected for one year and chosen by the Centuriate Assembly. Rome’s legal code was called the Twelve Tables, and gave public rights that stood the same for all, even plebeians. However, these laws only affected free males. Next, we moved on to the Roman legion. At first, most legionnaires were not in it for the pay. There were about 5000 of them, with groups of 80 being a century and there is also cavalry. The legionnaires were equipped with shields, swords, daggers, and armor. Next, the Punic Wars. The Punic Wars ranged from 264-146 BCE, and actually had three wars in it. The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) was basically a naval battle between Carthage and Rome over Sicily. The Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) was when a 29-year-old general Hannibal went to attack Rome from the north, and was successful at laying waste to the northern part of the peninsula. However, he never reached Rome. In the Third Punic War, (149-146 BCE) Rome set out to eliminate Carthage. Mercilessly attacking it, Rome totally destroyed it and the city burned for 17 days. When the war ended, the last 50,000 people of Carthage were sold into slavery, and Carthage and the areas it controlled were annexed into Rome.

Schickago

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. After kings were done away with, two consuls would be elected by the populace. They dealt out justice, made laws, and commanded the army. The consuls could veto each other, dispersing power. They only had a one year term and were always aristocrats (or patricians). In 500 BC, the plebeians challenged the patricians, and plebeians consisted of 98% of the population. Plebeians were in the army, but couldn’t hold office. Plebeians also had no rights in trials or other matters and could be put into debt slavery. Lastly, Rome had no written laws, only unwritten customs, which could be interpreted by the patricians as they pleased. Plebeians refused to serve in the military until the Law of the Twelve Tables was passed. These were made public in 450 BC. Tribunes (something like a tribal leader) were elected, and the SPQR system was used, which stands for senatus populusque romanum, which means the Senate, the People, and Rome. This made Rome many different types of government, as it had a democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes), a monarchy (the consuls), and an aristocracy (the Senate, made of approximately 300 patricians). Rome is very similar to the US, but each have major differences in organization. Mr. Schick also put on an excellent show of pretending to have a visitor and then coming into the room and rapping about Rome. I thought this was the best rap solo I’ve seen, and YouTube should ask for Chi Cago back.

I haven't made one of these funny blog posts in a while, so I've got nothing....

                Today in Western Civilization we started a PowerPoint on Rome (sadly, this might be the last one). Kate was back (though still not herself) and we everyone else was present, although extremely subdued (I think you got lucky, or we just really like your class and were having a withdrawal). Straight out of the gates, we have Remus and Romulus (the founders of Rome) drinking milk from a wolf. Apparently, Romulus wanted Rome on a different hill (and it went there) and Romulus killed his brother eventually over things like this. Rome borrowed many ideas from Greece, like their religious beliefs, alphabet, a lot of their art, and their military techniques and weapons. The Latins settled Rome first, who were descendants of the Indo-Europeans. They settled on the Tiber River, which had many mountains next to it (One was where Rome was, Palatine). The Tiber River was special because trading ships could go through but not war fleets. A marshy area near the Tiber, called the Forum, was drained to put Rome into the area. Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather made Cloaca Maxima, which means ‘large ancient drain’. This drain channeled water into the Tiber. Lucius Tarquinas Superbus (not Super Bus) was the seventh and final king of Rome, also known as Tarquin the Proud or Tarquin the Arrogant (whenever you say this I always think Grand Moff Tarkin of the Galactic Empire). Long story short, Tarquin was manipulated by his wife into killing a bunch of people to gain power, and was eventually kicked out of Rome. After this, Rome did not want kings for many centuries.

Alexander The Great Persian Wars 2.0

                Today in Western Civilization we watched a movie on Alexander the Great. Mr. Schick explained that although we did get through the other important parts of Greece, we didn’t touch on Alexander. He only showed us three key scenes, which summed up a lot of what the movie was about. In the first scene, Alex asks his father to buy an ‘unrideable’ horse and tries to ride it. Alex then rides the horse with ease. This horse becomes the horse that Alex rides into every one of his battles and its name is (looks up spelling) Bucephalus. Next, we went back in the movie (forward in time) to where Alex is talking to his generals about his battle plan against the Persians. Many of them disagree with the plan, but he eventually wins their trust and they go into battle. In the third scene, the Persians and the Greeks engage. The two forces clash, and the Persians begin flanking and almost winning against the Greeks. However, Alex scares off the Persian leader but goes back to his troops to help instead of chasing the leader. What’s even funnier is that the Persian leader tried to run away (while running over his own troops with his chariot) a second time in the next battle, and was killed by his own troops.

TRACK MEET

                Today I was missing Western Civilization to go to a track meet. I left at twelve fifteen and headed down to the locker room to change into my track uniform. After that I got the water jug filled and brought it to the bus. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough seats on the bus, but I did get one in the back. Two of our sprinters had to stay at school because there were not enough seats and we even had someone sitting on the floor. I’m writing this on the bus as we go to the meet, and the bus ride is an hour long. As I’m sitting here thinking about my life choices (not really) I discuss the meet and how I’m somehow not last on the list for times because three other people don’t have registered times. Unfortunately, some of our best runners are not here, and  even they couldn’t beat some of the times from the other teams.

Greekopoly.....is monopolizing class time.....

                Today in Western Civilization we finished presenting our projects. First, we re-watched my video with me commentating and explaining the significance of what was on screen. After that we had “The Gummy Bear Phalanx” project, which consisted of a small model with gummy bears on it in phalanx formation and some stop motion of gold fish being crushed by the phalanx. This project also explained the route the Persians took to flank the Greeks (Although I don’t remember what the battle was). Lastly, we had Greekopoly. This was literally the most unorganized presentation we had, and that’s saying something considering that we had ‘Say yes to the toga’. The information presented was good, but they only had the attention of the people playing. Everyone else in the room watching was either half asleep or not paying attention to what the presentation was. I thought it looked interesting, but it would have been better if everyone could have participated in the game.

My project won an Emmy.... at least on some people's score sheets

                Today in Western Civilization we continued to present our projects. First, we had Abby, Brett, and Micah’s project. Their project was a model trireme, which was slightly boxy and was made of various wood materials. They also had a poster board with information on it. Their presentation was OK, but it seemed like they didn’t use the poster board that much, and that was one of their more prominent visual pieces. Next, we had a presentation on Greek architecture, but most specifically columns. The presentation was done by CJ, Austin, and Matt. Their presentation was also very good, as they had visual elements and explained what they did. However, I feel like they could have put more work into it, if not in the models (which is what made the project special) then possibly the amount of information they presented. We also had Kiana and Angela’s project, which was very good. All of it was great, but it seemed like Angela didn’t know the material that well. Granted, she wasn’t here for a lot of the time Kiana worked on it, but she could have learned the information better. Lastly, we had my project. I wasn’t totally sure if everyone was going to get bored of my project halfway through, but Mr. Schick’s commentary helped quite a bit. I’m also a little bit surprised by the output of excitement towards my project, but at the same time I guess people didn’t expect it. Luckily, we managed to fit my whole video into the time we had remaining, and despite some timing difficulties it was a pretty good video.

Hecate had three heads? I don't think so.....

                Today in Western Civilization we started the presentation of our projects. First, we got food from Emma, Gabrielle, and Kate’s group. This food represented and mostly was what the Greeks ate in their time in their daily diet. They also had a PowerPoint in which they presented what each piece of food was and what it was made of. They also told us about different festivals that the Greeks used that involved food. I thought their presentation was very well delivered, and had lots of information. The usage of food augmented their PowerPoint and their delivery had no stumbles. They were also very knowledgeable on what they were doing, despite the bad puns. The rest of the class time was taken up by ‘Say yes to the toga’, one of the longest and most ridiculous projects I’ve ever seen. Yes, I understand that there were a lot of Greek gods, and yes, I understand there is a lot of information that needs to be presented. However, the presentation was so long that they lost the class halfway through, and their delivery wasn’t that great overall.

I can almost taste the finish line..... and I think I hear an 89 in the air

                Today in Western Civilization we were given more time to work on our projects. I managed to finish all of my filming over the weekend (a sum of maybe ten hours of work or so) but it was worth it. In class I started editing the film, and got pretty far. I have all of the pictures uploaded into Windows Movie Maker, and I have gotten through Marathon with editing. The number of pictures I have for this video is so massive I couldn’t fit it on my flash drive, so I had to take some previous animations off of it to compensate. I do have to say, this is one of my biggest animation projects I’ve ever done. I knew we were supposed to present this, but as this is a full blown video with captions I guess I’ll just pause the video and read/explain the captioned sections. Unfortunately, I still have to write my paper on how I did my research and finish my editing for the video.

This should be fun...

                Today in Western Civilization we continued working on our projects. Granted, I’m mostly going to be working on my project over the weekend, but I took time today to actually put the pictures into the video. Making stop motion videos are very time consuming, and as I’ve said before, making seven LEGO figures run when they are very close together is very hard. Even so, the product wasn’t too bad so I guess I’ll just keep going. First you have to change your picture speed to 0.10 frames per second. I did adjust some of them because they were so fast and so they made sense, and I also made pictures with text four seconds long so you could read it. I’ve also taken some songs from YouTube with a YouTube to mp3 website, so I now also have music for the video which I added today. The editing process was surprisingly short, and I did manage to finish editing all of the photos for Scene one of the movie. Afterwards, I went on the Internet to look up some game trailers that literally released while I was in class, as I didn’t have anything to do with my project afterwards.

WE DIDN'T DO MOMENT OF ZEN TODAY!!!

                Today in Western Civilization we received our tests from the Greek section and worked on our projects. I only got one question wrong (so close to two bells) but it was a kind of a trick question so I wasn’t too worried about it. After we went over the answers to the questions (by the way I just now realized we didn’t do a moment of Zen today and my Yin and Yang are totally thrown off) we got about twenty-five minutes to work on our projects. As you already know, I finished my script yesterday. This class I gathered and searched for different digital materials, mostly music, for my video. Unfortunately, the school blocks any attempts at downloading things from the Internet so I couldn’t download mp3 versions of YouTube videos, so I’ll have to do that when I get home. I also started inputting files into my Windows Movie Maker program, but they’re just pictures and title screens.

Go go go go go go go, run away from the sharknado.....

                Today in Western Civilization Mr. Schick wasn’t there (crying on the inside). Since today was senior retreat, Mr. Schick was going. Not sure how the process to be chosen works, but I hope you had fun. Mr. Fendryk subbed for us, (I hope I spelled that right) and he seemed pretty cool. I worked on my script for the video, and started back up at the battle of Thermopylae. If the ‘sweaty gym rats’ from 300 survived in the movie, I guess it was even less historically accurate than I thought. According to Britannica, the Spartan leader Leonidas dispatched the Greeks to the south and stayed with his troops and another group called the Thespians. The Persians then swarmed them and most of them died, including Leonidas. I did finish scripting, and although this is going to be a stop motion film, I’m probably going to do some parts of it in miniatures, which means the detailing is going to consist of the Greeks looking like a blob of white bricks or something. You said 3 minutes of animation quality would be good, but this is probably going to take a much longer time than that, simply because of all the combat engagements and stop start text inputs I’m going to have to explain some things. After finishing the script I found some other things that I would need (like the Sharknado theme, don’t ask, you’ll find out later).

Julius Caesar in LEGOS?

                Today in Western Civilization we worked on our projects. I am doing a stop-motion on the Greco-Persian Wars with my LEGOS. Before filming for time efficiency I’m going to script my movie. So, in the time I had to work on my project I scripted all the way up to the battle of Thermopylae (or 300.2). For my source reference points, I used your PowerPoint and the battles listed, as well as the list of weaponry and strengths of the two armies. It is kind of interesting to try and write a script that is interesting and informative. The hardest part of this is making the information easy to understand without involving too much reading or any at all. I also think it’s going to take excessive amounts of time to snap pictures and build sets for this, but I’ve figured out that you can make miniatures of what you’re filming and put minor amounts of detail into them but still get the point across.

I'm feeling sick (about this test), but not as sick as Mr. Schick.

                Today in Western Civilization we took our test on the Greece unit. Before the period, I looked over my notes, and was a little uneasy because of the amount of information that was there. However, when I got the test I was pleasantly surprised. I never do good on anything to do with geography, but I think I actually got all of those questions right. Some of it was a little bit of guesswork (I didn’t have Solon in my notes for some reason) but I think I at least capped the eighty-nine-point score. The only question I really had with was the Homeric question, because I didn’t remember if Homer asked questions or not to people. However, I just took it as whether I believed he is real, and instead of giving an actual opinion I totally avoided the question altogether. After the test, I researched the Homeric question, and it turned out it was the question of the identity of Homer, so I guess I got that one right. Mr. Schick what sickness did you contract this week? I’ve never heard you cough so much during a class period.

Test tomorrow.... what annoying but exciting music to play?

                Today in Western Civilization we watched a video to help us review for tomorrow’s test. This video covered most of the points that we covered, but from a different view and with more information and depth. The video started out explaining the different places in Greece and some of its topography. This video also focused on Cleisthenes repeatedly. It discussed how the legend (or real happening) of the marathon led to a real marathon, twenty-two point six miles, and how Greek heroes played an important role in society. This video went into deeper detail about the Olympics, where anyone could compete (but only if you were a Grecian male). This video also showed some Greek art, focusing on the ‘vas’. This really is a vase, but slightly sturdier and bigger than most of our vases, so I’m not sure why people give them a special name like ‘vas’. The video talked about the rule of the man who claimed power by saying he was being supported by Athena on Earth, and then Hippias’s rule. After this the video talked about the power struggle between Cleisthenes and Isagoras, in which the people overthrew their government (508 BCE, I remembered Mr. Schick).

Philosopherpalooza with MatPat

                Today in Western Civilization we finished our PowerPoint on Greece. Starting off with a bang (not literally, gunpowder hadn’t been discovered yet, but possibly Greek fire) we have the Persian Empire V.S. the Greeks in the Greco-Persian Wars. First, the Greeks. The Greeks had iron weapons, well trained hoplites (like specialists or Navy SEALs), spears, swords, and shields, the phalanx, the will to preserve democracy (the Persians weren’t one), a home turf advantage, and lastly an unconquerable navy. The Persians had the world’s first archers (a high tactical advantage), cavalry, light infantry, and most importantly, numbers. However, the Persians were far from home, and to top it off the men working in the army were mostly or all mercenaries. Money can be a powerful motivator, but not as much as trust in government. The Greeks eventually won, due to a multitude of odd reasons. After this we began our last section on the philosophers of Greece, also known as Philosopherpalooza. First, Socrates. He used science and logic, and created the Socratic Method. However, as we previously talked about, he died before his time due to a death sentence from an Athenian trial. One of Aristotle’s students/followers, Plato, wrote out Aristotle’s teaching and described his trial in the book Apology. Plato also wrote a famous book called Republic which was about Socrates discussion of justice and the ideal state. One of Plato’s students, Aristotle (my favorite) wanted Athens to be an intellectual destination. He then created the Lyceum, where ideas and knowledge could be shared peacefully with others. Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great (who went on to conquer many lands) and to some extent began the idea of the Internet with the Lyceum. But, as my favorite Internet YouTuber says, “That’s just a theory. A GAME theory! Thanks for watching.”

Greek Fire!

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Greece. First, we finished the list of Greek gods, which was just Demeter. Then we moved on to Sparta. Greeks were known for being warlike, however Spartans were known the most for it. The Spartans had the greatest infantry in the known world, and they began training their boys at age seven. I’ve also heard that the Spartans were extremely strict in their regime, and would even starve their children for long periods to teach them lessons and how to live off the land. Meanwhile, Athens also had a good infantry. However, Athens is even better known for their navy. Athens’s navy was the strongest in the world, similar to Britain. Their strongest ship was the trireme, which had three levels and one-hundred seventy oars. The crewmen were so well trained these ships could turn on a dime and were extremely fast. The ships were also designed with steel caps on their bows to smash or tip ships when they rammed them. The last slide we reviewed had a picture of a phalanx, which is a tactical formation which was used to tear through enemy lines at close range. For some reason, I think phalanx means porcupine or is related to it in some way, but that may be because that’s what it looks like. I also looked up 300 on Google images and it looks like a horrible movie. However, I still think the movie Explorers was worse as it had no storyline (Unless you watched the sequel, and even then I’m not sure).

SNOW DAYS- Coming to a theater near you (or on Mr. Schick's driveway)

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Ancient Greece. We had left off on the slide about Cleisthenes. Cleisthenes came from an elite and rich family, and when he was younger from the ‘hoi polloi’ or the lower class. Cleisthenes was a good ruler, but crafty. Despite being insulated from the hoi polloi Cleisthenes saw value in drawing off of the ideas, talents, and energies of the general public. So, Cleisthenes started a new government that was a democracy, in which citizens of Athens could participate in. Keep in mind though, being a citizen meant you were a white male born in Athens who owned land and was free. After several years Athens practiced direct democracy, where the city-state was ruled by citizens and majority rules decided all arguments in politics. This is where the agora style debates come from, where people would come up and present their ideas to the population and when all was said that needed to be said there would be a vote. These votes were taken extremely seriously and not showing up would result in possible rejection of most of society, as almost everyone attended. Votes were counted by each person putting a black or white officially inscribed stone into an urn, and afterwards they were counted. This was the first true democracy, and was made around five hundred BCE. There were a couple of slides afterwards on Greek gods, but I’ve learned those in school multiple times in depth as well as read books on my own time about them, so I didn’t copy these down.

We get Friday off. WHOOT WHOOT!

Yesterday in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Ancient Greece. We got into the section on warring city-states. First, some vocabulary. Polis; meaning city-state or political unit, monarchy; meaning a government with one ruler, aristocracy; a government ruled by the rich, oligarchy; the rich who didn’t like aristocracy and tried to overthrow it with the help of military hoplites, a tyrant; a person who seized power through the common people’s support. During the sixth and seventh centuries, Greece was ruled by aristocrats, who while making political decisions together basically had an endless party called a symposium. There was entertainment, drink and food, and no middle class. This government was self-appointed, and occasionally would exclude or ostracize one another when someone was not in favor. Excluded aristocrats sometimes formed an oligarchy, and tried to overthrow the current aristocrats or take control of a different city-state. Draco, who ruled in 621 BCE, made the first steps toward democracy. All Athenians were declared equal under the law; however, death was the punishment for most crimes and debt slavery was allowed. Solon reformed some laws in 594 BCE by making debt slavery outlawed, made it so all castes of Athenians could speak at an assembly, and that any citizen could press charges against wrongdoers. Cleisthenes in 500 BCE allowed citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly, and started the Council of five-hundred. However, only free adult males who owned land and were native to Greece could join. Hippias, who lived from 527-510 BCE was an okay leader at first, but then his brother was murdered and his ruling became harsh and cruel. Anyone who he thought took part in the murder was killed, along with their families. He was eventually ostracized, but in revenge teamed up with a Persian king named Darius I to take over Marathon. Isagoras and Cleisthenes in the meantime are in a power struggle for who will be ruler of Athens. Cleisthenes had major support from the lower class, and surprisingly Sparta. Isagoras wins and becomes archon emponymous and ostracizes Cleisthenes. However, Cleisthenes supporters in Athens revolt against Isagoras. Isagoras is trapped on the acropolis for two days, and on the third day he leaves and is banished. This happened in 508 BCE, and was the first time the common people overthrew a government.

AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENAAAAAA!!! (John visited class today)

`               Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Ancient Greece. Our moment of Zen today was provided by Robin Williams. Afterwards we started the PowerPoint, and we had left off on the slide about farming. Although one-fourth of Greece was covered in fertile land, only twenty percent is arable (I didn’t really understand this, but I guess land can have high amounts of minerals but still be unfarmable). Greeks may have not done many things, but what they did they were good at. A Grecian daily diet consisted of grapes, grains, and olives. The Greeks were quite innovative and figured out how to make these basic materials produce many different items. For instance, olive oil or wine (No, they didn’t blend it into a smoothie). However, due to lack of resources, the Greeks economy was built on a large amount trading. The Greeks farming capability was greatly boosted by the climate, which ranged in the low eighty’s and the mid-forty’s. We then switched over to a section of Greece, the Mycenaeans. Their influence was around 2000 BCE. Mycenae was located on a rocky ledge of Peloponnesus, and their town was surrounded by a twenty-foot wall. They dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE, and controlled most trade in their area. In 1400 BCE they invaded Crete and absorbed the Minoan culture instead of destroying it. In 1200 BCE, a mysterious group of people invaded and ravaged Mycenae, only known as the ‘sea people’ who burned palaces and other buildings. Another group, called the Dorians, moved in and took over Mycenae, and they ruled from about 1150-750 BCE. The Dorians were less advanced, and this time is considered the Dark Ages of Greece. In this time, culture declined, writing totally disappeared for four-hundred years, and the trade based economy totally collapsed. Meanwhile, the mythical man known as Homer emerged. Using oral tradition, Homer spread stories of the Trojan War, known as the Iliad and The Odyssey. These stories are very long and hard to memorize, but Homer told them in dactylic hexameter, which made them sort of like a song and easier to memorize. Homer was legendary in his days, gaining the immediate and total respect of any Grecian who met him, and his legend lives on today through his works, which have been remade in different formats (Looking at you Rick Riordan). However, some doubt Homer’s existence as he may have been a myth himself, as were parts of his stories, and he may have been a combination of years of storytelling.

Mesopotamiaaaaaa!!!

                Today in Western Civilization we started our PowerPoint on Ancient Greece. We are studying Greece because it was the first democracy of all time. According to the PowerPoint, all the first prosperous civilizations were waterfront property. Here are the main five: Egypt and the Nile, India and the Indus, China and the Huang He, and lastly, Greece and the four gigantic oceans/seas (Mediterranean, Ionian, Aegean, and Adriatic) surrounding it. In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea (the roots med meaning middle, and terra meaning earth, to form middle of the Earth) is the island of Crete, the biggest island of approximately 2000 islands surrounding Greece in the Ionian and the Aegean Sea. Greece is a peninsula, and juts out into the middle of the Mediterranean. Fortunately for Greece, they were extremely good boat builders. However, Greece was a very mountainous region (mountains took up three-fourths of the country) and the people of Greece weren’t that unified as the mountains separated them. Different Greece city-states even had wars with each other. As the mountains divided them travel over land was difficult, so most people in Greece traveled by boat even if the distance was longer. Lacked resources and wasn’t self-sufficient, so they resorted to trading over water. Greece also was filled with tradesmen who knew one skill or another, and used these skills. Greece was a large was one of the largest empires of its time.

My thought process is flawed

                Today in Western Civilization we went over our test on the Articles of Confederation and the Bill of Rights. Surprisingly, I got a ninety-two (Hurray!). I was left wondering where I got those three extra credit points that boosted me from an eighty-nine to a ninety-two, but I got the grade so it doesn’t matter (Yes, I see what you did there, just making a joke). In the advisory period before there were a couple kids talking about a car accident that happened and even had pictures of it (which I didn’t see). I heard somehow that the person was named John, and at first I was really worried because I thought I knew the person. It’s actually kind of funny how people tend to be more worried about something when they think they know the person even though they’re both people. As we were going through the test and I was reading a short answer question, the announcements came on. We were told to immediately go to different sections of the building based on what grade we were in, and when we got there we were given more information on the car crash. I didn’t know who the person was, and it turns out it was a person named Josh and not John. I was extremely relieved to hear that the person was alive and was getting medical treatment. Afterwards, we finished going through the test and I did my blog.

Schickmobile on Urban Dictionary

                Today in Western Civilization we had a test. After almost being hit by the Schickmobile (I might post that word to Urban Dictionary) I tried to sit down. However, Mr. Schick had to come over and turn the desks so we could have the desks ready for the test. Mr. Schick gave us a warning not to tell the other classes that the test was open blog, and gave us the test. The test was…… interesting. Sure, I had a good spread of notes and was able to answer half the questions without them, but there were some that totally threw me off balance (Good job). One of the questions, about how many Senators and Representatives there are, was pretty easy to do as I only needed to know one statistic in order to solve all three questions. I say solve because you used multiple choice, and all I had to do was simple addition to get the questions right. I am writing this under presumptions, as I haven’t actually checked the answers, but the answer was pretty clear as there were only four choices. Sorry Mr. Schick, but I got you there. I am also surprised that you didn’t include extra credit on this test, as the information you could have pulled from had so many little facts that could be overlooked (like some of the questions on the test I tried to answer) but you are writing the test, not me.

P.S., my answer to the Senate question was right.

P.P.S., I just submitted Schickmobile to Urban Dictionary, and it said it was under review by my ‘peers’.

Is it bad that I mentioned that our family owns weapons in front of the school president?

                Today in Western Civilization we went over what was going to be on the test tomorrow. In reality, more of the class was discussion than Mr. Schick actually telling us what was on the test. Mr. Schick opened the class by discussing what was happening when there was a supervisor was in the room last class. The adult in the classroom was the president of the school. He was supervising to see how Mr. Schick runs his class and how effective he was at teaching. Mr. Schick talked about how stressful it was in other schools to pass this inspection, as instead of telling you what you did right, they would pick out the most minute details of what you did wrong. Mr. Schick didn’t think he was going to get a bad report, but he did have one thing to say, which was about the usage of computers during class time. I do remember you saying at the beginning of the year that you never wanted us to use computers during class, and I was a little bit surprised when you didn’t get on to kids about it more often as of late, but you teach how you want to. I do agree that computers are a large distraction in class as the temptation to do other things on your computer when the teacher isn’t looking is pretty high, especially when what the teacher is teaching isn’t appealing to you. After that we had a long discussion on what was going to be on the test, and checked notes.

GUNS ARE FUN!!! (President Hughes edition)

                Today in Western Civilization we continued looking at and discussing the Constitution and its amendments. Before class started Mr. Schick came over to me and asked if I wanted to be a ‘guest speaker’ and speak about the Second Amendment (I think those should be capitalized, but I’m not sure). I said yes, not remembering what the Second Amendment was about at the time, and waited for class to start. When class started, I got up and went to the front of the class and summarized what the Second Amendment was about (I would’ve made more jokes but there was another teacher in the room supervising, and since I didn’t get to say it earlier, GUNS ARE FUN!). After that we discussed why it was written the way it was, how the militia part of it didn’t apply in this time, and I answered a couple of questions about gun regulations, which I didn’t know too much about surprisingly. The rest of my family doesn’t talk about guns that often, but we do support the right to carry them. My grandparents on my dad’s side lean farther right than I do (My grandpa was in the Vietnam war, so he is military and is a very do-it yourself person, I think you’d like him. No surprise about the gun part there.). I think that having weapons in the right hands can be a good thing when it comes to self-defense or upholding moral standards (fancy terminology for what the police do), but there is a definite risk factor with allowing just anyone to buy guns. After my brief stint as guest speaker I returned to my desk and we continued through the amendments. The 3^rd amendment basically terminated the Quartering Act, the 4^th speaks of no unreasonable search or seizure of property, the 5^th speaks of fairness towards criminals on trial, where no person can be tried for the same crime twice, no one will attest against themselves in court (they will always get an attorney), and that people are innocent until proven guilty. The 5^th also states that trials will be public and speedy, so no one waits excessive amounts of time for their trial, and they will be public so they are fair. The 7^th states that you can ask for a jury trial for on a petty case (less than $20 dollars’ worth) but you will always get a jury trial for more than $20 dollars’ worth or in a serious trial (felony). The 8^th amendment says that there will be no excessive bails or cruel punishments.

My sister got sick on the ski trip and we left early

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on the Articles of the Bill of Rights and started looking through the amendments of the Constitution. We started on Section 2 of Article 3, which was about impeachment. The article says that all people shall receive trial by jury unless it is in the case of impeachment, in which the other branches vote. Section three covers treason against the U.S., which is defined as waging war against America or helping its enemies. Treason is the only crime listed because you can say whatever you want about America (protecting the first amendment) but it doesn’t matter what you say until you take action. Article is all about outlining the relations between state and the federal government. Section one says that in matters such as credit, trade, or treaties with other countries the other countries will talk to the federal government and not the state. Section 2 talks about how if you commit a crime in a state, then go to another state to escape justice, the state you went to is obliged to take you back to the state you committed the crime in to serve trial. Section 3 says that Congress has the right to admit states, and that these new states will follow the rules laid out by the government that all the other states follow. Section 5 says that only 2/3 of Congress are needed to ratify amendments, which happened 27 times. Article 5 starts off saying that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, that state judges have to uphold the Constitution, and that states can’t make laws that contradict the Constitution. Article 7 states that if 9 states agree (out of 13) then the Constitution will be established. Finally, we started on the amendments to the constitution, the first being about the five freedoms; religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Harry Daghir's Axe-spray flamethrower vs skiing

                Today I missed Western Civilization because I left school as lunch was starting. My mom and dad picked me up and I left at around 1:40. Unfortunately, since I left so early in the day I’m missing Western Civilization as well as a test in The Mission and Ministry of Jesus Christ class and a test in Algebra 2. I’m actually writing this blog in the car on the way to the place we’re going (No, my mom didn’t tell me to do this) and I guess I’ll just post this blog once I get back into a wifi zone so please excuse it if this blog comes in late for today. My family and I are going skiing in New York at a mountain called Windham. I’m kind of excited about this as there’s lots of green slopes (just in case you’ve never gone skiing the difficulty ranking goes like this: green circle, blue square, black diamond, double black diamond, triple black diamond, and in some places yellow triangles for avalanche areas). I’m not a very avid skier, and I’m not very good at blue slopes and I almost never touch black slopes. I’m also missing one of my Boy Scout friend’s Eagle Court of Honor, which I’m disappointed about because he was really nice to me when I first joined the Troop and we became good friends over the course of summer camp.

I'm President Hughes, and I approve this message.

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on the Bill of Rights. We had a brief discussion before starting the PowerPoint on what we reviewed yesterday, mostly pointed towards presidential succession. If the President is disabled from service, then the Vice President steps in. If the Vice President is disabled from service, it continues to move down a list of people, based off of when their branch was formed. The current top three behind the President is the Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and the President pro tempore of the Senate Orrin Hatch. Since Homeland Security is one of the most recently created branches, it’s at the bottom of the list. Quite honestly, I think that Homeland Security should near the top of the list as the most likely the president would be disabled from office would be through an assassination attempt. Therefore, Homeland Security could take immediate control, and since this threat would most likely be from a large organization, Homeland Security could lead the country and disable the threat at the same time (I also think someone military-based would make a good president. Ex. Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington, President Lincoln, and so forth). Lastly, the president must separate himself from his outside financial affairs while in office and does not get a pay downgrade or raise throughout their term. They must also take an Oath of Office before being able to enter Presidency. Section two of the document  discusses the powers of the President, being that the President is the commander-in-chief of the army, and that he/she can grant pardons.

I wrote two blogs today..... yay

Today in Western Civilization we started a PowerPoint on the Bill of Rights. The first article of the document, which has ten sections, discusses the Legislative branch. First, we got the basic information, although I do want to note that I didn’t know that the Legislative branch has two Houses, Congress, and the House of Representatives (I thought they were one thing). It stated the powers of Congress, those powers being the ability to draft and pass laws, borrow money for the nation, declare war and raise military, and do checks and balances on the other two branches. Skipping to section four, this section covers the Executive branch. This states that the President and Vice President will be elected together, and will have a four-year term. It also states the Electoral College election method, and the qualifications to become president. These qualifications are that you have to be born in America, lived fourteen years in the U.S., and be the age thirty-five or above. This article also talks about presidential succession, where the Vice President will immediately be put in charge if the President is disabled from duty in any form.

Happy day after Valentines Day (Because that's when I'm writing this)

                Yesterday in Western Civilization it was Valentine’s Day. Jess brought in heart-shaped lollipops for the whole class (and still had a small buckets-worth of candy at lunch). For the whole class we had an open discussion on the first amendment of the Constitution. This consisted mostly of talking about the right to practice religion. Mr. Schick talked about his trip to the Newseum, which I think influenced his choice of what the day’s discussion were about. We had four Moments of Zen today (Some which made some sense some which didn’t) and the discussion took up the rest of the class. I’m actually writing this blog a day late and my memories kind of fuzzy about the specifics of the discussion, but I’ll give this my best shot. At some point in the discussion Mr. Schick had us look up the oath of office for the president, and how different presidents swore on different Bibles. Each president would use a different Bible of their choice, while some would even use two (President Obama). We also looked up the first amendment’s exact script several times, as we were looking at the exact wording of it.

Today's special guest; Reese

                Today in Western Civilization we got our tests back and went over them. Unfortunately, I got two questions wrong, one because Mr. Schick made a mistake and the second was wrong because the Ohio River Valley text was so close to the next question my brain didn’t register that it was an answer. I think this may also be since the rest of the questions only have four answers while this one had five. I looked at my essays and I got full points for both. I was kind of surprised because when I was writing them I wasn’t totally sure if everything I was writing in there was true, but I guess I sounded pretty convincing because I got full credit. After going over the test, we had some free time while Mr. Schick put grades in and I began writing this blog during this time. I only got a sentence or two, but since I got more material for this after that I guess I’ll just write that in. Mr. Schick came over and told me that one of his classes (I forgot which, but I think it had something to do with journalism. Sorry.) was taking a field trip to the Newseum in Washington DC. He had me look some pictures up and I thought it looked pretty cool. I also went to the website and looked over their exhibits. I did tell my parents about it and they said they knew about it, so I guess I could try to go there with my family eventually.

I get kind of irritated with the people considered the opposite of insensitive

                Today in Western Civilization we began our PowerPoint for the separation of powers. We didn’t get far, as we had a long open discussion. Mr. Schick started out by talking about how the system of balances and checks are still being applied today that were put into place many years in ago. For example, President Trump’s actions over banning certain countries from immigrating into the U.S. is being questioned by Legislation right now, but Trump is being backed by the Judicial branch. We somehow got into the topic of religion in schools. I think religion should be allowed if the school is public. However, instead of preaching one specific religion you could give a religion comparison class, or when telling kids to pray or whatever else they do to prepare to do so generically. This would save a lot of trouble when parents freak out saying ‘Oh my gosh, why are you teaching my child this? My child is ______ religion!’. It’s the people like this I can’t stand. If someone chooses to practice their religion in front of a class, just don’t participate. I’ve never heard of a religion that says they can’t listen to what someone else is saying simply because what the other person is saying isn’t based off of their religion.

Mr. Schick was out (keels over)

                Today in Western Civilization Mr. Schick was absent, so instead we sat around for thirty minutes and waited for our assignment to come in (Yay, half a free period!). Our assignment was to look at the Preamble to the Constitution and the Articles of the Constitution and summarize them in our blog. In the Preamble, the document speaks about why they are establishing this document. The first article of the constitution establishes the legislative branch of the government. The second article establishes the Executive branch of government. The third article establishes the Judiciary branch. The fourth article defines the relationship between the states and government. The fifth article states that amendments can be made to the Constitution. The sixth article states that all government must swear to the Constitution. The final article (The seventh) tells who signed it and that this document is ratified. Each article is much more detailed than this, but I have summarized them here.

Three-fifths....of a person....

Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint about the developing government of America. First, we reviewed the PowerPoint slides we already went over, and since Mr. Schick’s voice was dead (I didn’t think it was) the class read and explained them until the last slide. We didn’t listen to the rap battle again (sadness). Then there was a brief, nondescript timeline of the events that happened. On April 19, 1775, the Revolutionary War began. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed and released (Independence Day!). In 1777 the Articles of Confederation were written, and in 1781 all of the U.S. ratified them. On October 19, 1781, the Brits surrendered at Yorktown. On 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed. In May of 1787 the Constitutional Convention gathered. There were 55 delegates, all in Philadelphia. George Washington was presiding, while other famous men were also present. The discussions made were kept secret from the public and press (Although I think nailing your windows shut would attract a lot of attention. The objective was to design a new government, and even with controversies the convention managed a compromise where there were two houses. Each state had the same number of votes, but the House of Representatives had to determine how to count slaves. Since they were regarded as lesser beings, three-fifths of slaves were counted as people.

EPIC RAP BATTLE (But Mr. Schick can still spit more fire)

                Today in Western Civilization we started a PowerPoint on the developing American government after the Revolutionary War. This took place from about the 1700’s to the 1800’s. After the war, the Second Continental Congress was formed. In 1777 the Articles of Confederation were written (Maryland ratified these documents last). This was America’s first constitution. It gave the country a name (The United States of America), established diplomacy, set up trade with other nations, and set up cooperation between states. However, this document was flawed as it had many large controversies and loopholes. Each state was treated as a separate country, each maintained itself separate from the government, and there was one vote for each state in the “Congress of Confederation”. This last one wasn’t considered fair as some states put in more than others. The property value of each state determined how much they paid, which meant bigger states paid more but technically got the same say compared to states who were smaller and gave less. Quebec was invited to join the U.S., but declined (Canadians!!! WHOOOOOO!!!). Unfortunately, the country began to have many issues due to these loopholes. Debts couldn’t be paid because Congress couldn’t collect taxes. Each state printed their own money, which led to problems as you couldn’t use one state’s money in another. Britain has cut off trade, and the U.S. needed new trade partners. The country’s governing power was in deadlock as each side pushed either more government control or rights for the states. Secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, said that states should handle their own affairs, while Alexander Hamilton said that America should consolidate banking and taxes and work together.

Drone cameras make some pretty good videos.

                Today in class I completed my missed test on the early settlement and separation of America from Britain. Unfortunately, I think I missed the daily Moment of Zen due to this. The multiple choice questions were relatively easy, but the short answer took longer than I thought. Due to being half asleep from my cold, my mind kept wandering as I was trying to write the essay. Oh well, if you think it’s good Mr. Schick, then I guess it’s O.K. The three documents I was told to take notes on and research were A.B.C.; standing for The Articles of Confederation, The Bill of Rights, and the Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=127

-Opening paragraph discusses which states are accepting this document

-There are five articles

-Each article states how a different part of government will work

-First article states that this confederacy shall be called the United States of America

Bill of Rights

http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/bill-of-rights/

-The Bill of Rights is the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution

-The first amendment is about freedom of speech, religion, etc.

-2-4 talk about the rights of people towards the government or the military, mostly saying that the government/soldiers will do the exact opposite of what Britain did

-6-7 discuss the rights of people in court

-7-8 discuss jail and bail (rhymes)

-9-10 discuss that government can’t take away your rights and that the rights not owned by the government are owned by the people

The Constitution

http://constitutionus.com/

-Opening phrase ‘We the People’

-Has ‘Sections’ and within those, ‘Articles’

(I’m going to use the headers for each section from the site, but I’m not going to use quotes so don’t freak out)

-Article 1- Legislation

-Article 2- Executive

-Article 3- Judicial

-Article 4- State’s Relations

-Article 5- Mode of Amendment

-Article 6- Prior Debts, National Supremacy, Oaths of Office

-Article 7- Ratification

Side note: I know I’ve already mentioned these people in a past video, but it somehow didn’t click until now. Impact Props not only makes great game props, but they also make fantastic videos. Thought you might at least see the opening, as it has some cool camera effects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Zg-FuqO-g

Egyptian brain scooping

                This blog is for Tuesday (because I’m dumb and didn’t remember to blog or how to do it). Over the weekend I went on this great Boy Scout outing called Operation Icicle. The theme for this year was Strike It Rich. Many different Boy Scout Troops come from all over the state (and occasionally from out of it) to participate in the competition. There are different stations around the camp where you demonstrate different Boy Scout skills, like fire building and knot-tying, and some not-so-generic ones like currency identification. I was in a three-man tent with four boys (it was so warm that we had the tent door open for a whole night and we were fine. Unfortunately, the kid sleeping next to me was sick during the trip, and when he got diagnosed by a doctor afterwards, it turned out he had the flu. Monday night I wasn’t feeling great, and I didn’t go to school the day afterward. When we went to the doctor I got tested for the flu and strep, but I didn’t have either (I hope you never have and never will have to be tested for flu. Ever. Getting a wooden stick with a swab on the end of stuck up my nose 4 inches made me pass out. Bleah.). I guess I just have a cold. Anyways, that’s why I wasn’t at school (or in class) Tuesday. 

Senor Boris' Scoutmaster Minute

                Today in Western Civilization we had a period to complete homework, as Mr. Schick had nothing planned. While we completed homework, Mr. Schick assembled some of the transfer student’s PowerPoint’s into a semblance of sense. I chose to work the kinks out of my English essay, as I had it peer-edited the period before. In English class we’re doing an essay on a Shakespearean term, and off the list I chose Blind Love. After being peer-edited it didn’t have many mistakes, mostly just formatting for MLA. It didn’t take me long to fix these, but I had to restart my computer because it was having problems with the internet. I also had to format my sources for MLA format using EasyBib, which still didn’t take very long. After that I didn’t do my blog as we hadn’t gone through the whole class yet and I was waiting for something interesting to happen. The most interesting thing that happened the whole class was Kate messing with Kiana’s hair. Just kidding, today’s Moment of Zen was pretty interesting. What’s funny about our Moment of Zen is that in Boy Scouts we have a thing at the end of every meeting where our Scoutmaster comes to the front and reads from his Scoutmaster Minute book (I time it every time, it’s never a minute).

Declaration of Independence Analysis

                Today in Human Geography Mr. Schick was out (sadness) but he left us work to do. The work for today was to read the Declaration of Independence and write an analysis which we post to our blog. I’m assuming this replaces blog as it goes on our blog site and is about what we did in class today, but if I’m wrong please correct me so I can write a blog. The first opening paragraph summarizes what’s going to be in the document, saying that it is necessary for America to leave Britain and that they will write their reasons for secession in it. The next paragraph talks about how every person is created equal by God and that by this reasoning every person’s government should support them with the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Then they go on to say that Britain is not following these rules and that they have the right to form a new government if these rights are not supplied. They then say they will list the reasons why the king is not following these rules. This next part is mostly short arguing points, and I’ll summarize them in the briefest way possible. The colonists say that the king creates laws that are not fair or help others, does not give them representation or a say in what happens in the colonies, and that the king has meetings about what they are doing in the colonies in ridiculous places to tire the colonies into submission. The colonists then write about how the king is disabling their ability to form their own means of basic government, while also imposing his will on those who do form any means of government. They also speak about the king interfering with their ability to expand territory (when the king said that they couldn’t move into the Ohio River Valley). They also speak of the soldiers that are positioned here to oppress the colonists and how they are invulnerable to punishment for the crimes they commit, as well as how Britain is restricting their trade rights with other countries. They also speak about taxes without consent and being tried for crimes they didn’t commit, and lastly how Britain has taken whatever they wanted form the colonists. After this, the document returns to paragraph format. The colonists write that though they did not want it to come to this, Britain does not listen to their pleas of change for the laws. The colonists end that they are officially declaring themselves independent of Britain.

The 82nd Airborne Rangers helped Army win against Navy

                Today in Western Civilization we watched a video where famous actors read the Declaration of Independence. Each actor read part of the document, and they would pan the camera while moving around the room to the next actor. It was cool to listen to it, especially with Mr. Schick’s input (that kept my mind from wandering), but the funniest thing was is that I did not recognize a single actor. I had heard the name Goldberg somewhere, but their first name was definitely not Whoopi. The only other name I recognized on that list was John Williams, who wrote the musical score for this video and the music for Star Wars. After that we had a discussion that was about differing opinions, and it somehow led to American being united during September 11^th, and then we just discussed September 11^th. After the twin towers collapsed (I still haven’t gotten this confirmed because dad isn’t home yet) I remember my dad saying that he was really fired up about going to take out the terrorists overseas, and he served in Iraq (as far as I know) helping to guard equipment. I’m pretty sure he did other things, as he was bombarded with all manners of weaponry from the hostiles in the area, but most of the pictures he has are of him in the barracks and guarding trains. I do know that my dad was an Airborne Ranger, meaning he received special training as a Ranger and did jump out of airplanes.

The indoctrination of rock climbing

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on The American Revolution. The slide we were looking at involved Paul Revere’s ride, but there wasn’t any new information. We watched a video that had paintings of the ride and told a poem about the ride. The poem used lots of imagery about light and the addition of animals with rising tension to make a very well written poem. As a kid Mr. Schick had to memorize this poem (which sounds horrible). After that Mr. Schick talked about how when people said ‘Make America great again’ they meant how the Andy Griffith show was. I agree from the standpoint that it was a different time when you could trust people more and you could send your kid to go to town to get something without worrying about someone kidnapping them. Back then everyone trusted each other more because there simply wasn’t a lot of people that provided you with a reason not to. After watching a clip from the Andy Griffith Show where Andy explains Paul Revere’s ride to some kids (and his deputy). Mr. Schick showed us some pictures from the women’s rights (It was for a manner of things, but I think this would best explain it) and pictures of people that had gotten themselves irrevocably stuck on top of tall objects.

British tea party!!! YAY!!!

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint that is now leading into the American Revolution. The first slide presented straight facts in the Boston ‘Massacre’. After this the British repealed most of the Townsend Acts, but not the tea tax. The colonists were not happy about this and smuggled tea in from other sources. British figured this out and tried to put the colony’s tea smugglers out of business by instating another law that said only the British could supply tea. Colonists boycotted British tea and kept smuggling in tea, and in December 1773, the event known as the Boston Tea Party happened. This event coincidentally was also misnamed, and sadly there was no tea party (it would make an interesting history lesson though). Led by Samuel Adams some colonists dressed up as Native Americans and dumped a large amount of tea chests into the harbor. The person delivering wasn’t mad as he wasn’t selling the tea and only delivering it, but this was an extremely rebellious act against Britain. After this Britain responded by instating more laws that restricted colonists, by banning public meetings, closing the Boston Harbor, and sending even more soldiers to Boston. Colonists called these laws the Intolerable Acts. Once again, totally ignoring Britain, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress. Among others, this Congress contained George Washington, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Jay (?). This Congress created a precursor to the Declaration of Independence known as the Declaration of Rights, that stated rights that colonists should have. If these rights were not addressed, accepted by Britain, and the Intolerable Acts were not lifted, then all colonies would stop exporting goods. All the colonies agreed at the time except for Georgia who was fighting a Native American uprising and needed the help. After that we started the American Revolution, and started with a couple war-based vocabulary words (for some odd reason when you said blockades I though Star Wars prequels, but anyways…). Patrick Henry made his famous “Give me liberty or give me death!” quote and others started riling up colonists for war. Massachusetts started its own militia of Minutemen, and Paul Revere and unsung others prepared for their ride as British got ready to storm Concord where colonist munitions were being stored.

Why do places with the letter B always have violence in them?

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on the early colonies of America that were under control of Britain. After reviewing the slide on the proclamation of 1763, we moved on to other proclamations that the king made. There was the Sugar Act, which taxed sugar imports to the colonies. The Stamp Act, which made it so colonists had to buy stamps for all printed materials, and using British currency, not what was being printed in the colonies. This was for all printed materials from England, including cards (I was thinking, how does that work? Did you have to stamp each card? And did you have to put it on the front of the card, or the back?). The Quartering Act, which made it so colonists would have to provide quarters for British soldiers in their own houses, regardless of whether they wanted to or could. The Townsend Act was another taxing act, taxing paper, glass, paint, and tea imports. The colonists were starting to get fed-up with how the British were treating them, but they had no representatives in England and could not send someone to fix the problem. However, they could do stuff back home, such as boycotting British products, refusing to pay taxes, and forming protest groups (such as the Sons of Liberty). After that we started a video about the Boston homicide (Oh, sorry, massacre). We had a discussion after that mostly because Angela (forever my polar opposite) thought it was totally unjustified that the British shot the Bostonians. Understanding more than most because I’ve read certain books (like the one about Audie Murphy, I forget the name), I know that under times of extreme duress human minds have a tendency to do really stupid things because of the stress, unless you’re a battle hardened veteran or something. It was kind of interesting to see Angela’s reactions to what we were talking about because she is a liberal and strongly supports the black lives matter movement against police officers and most likely supports gun control. This situation is comparable to the situations we face today, however the police officers are more justified than the British troops. One thing that I did realize while writing this blog is that while Angela supports gun control, she is proven to have no concept of how a group of people with weapons/firearms (I say this because of the bayonets) can out-fight a larger group without guns. I just kind of found that interesting and wanted to point it out to you Mr. Schick.

theodd1sout: BOY WERE THEY WRONG!

                Today in Western Civilization (Not Human Geography. Different, right?) we started a PowerPoint on Western Civilization. I think I’m seeing a theme here. What’s really funny is our new class is composed of the same kids with the same teacher and we’re in the same classroom. The first slide on the PowerPoint had two vocabulary words, ally; a nation that joins with other nations for the same cause, and cede; to surrender something. The next slide summarized what was going on at the time, where Britain had just settled the new land known as America, and the French were going to cut them off by settling in the Ohio River Valley. The British were settling in places that the French were also settling in or had already settled in. This caused MORE conflict (as the two nations were already rivals) between the two nations. The French were already friends with the local natives, trading with them and respecting each other’s rights, existing in harmony. The Indians sided with the French, and a war started between the two groups. This war began in 1745, with Britain using their standard frontal assaults with uniformed armies of many. The French played more towards strategical guerilla warfare, using the tricks that the Indians taught them and fighting with camouflage and surprise attacks. The British won in the end due to superior forces, and the French left the area. British officially owned the Ohio River Valley in 1763. The next slide had more vocab on it, containing the words proclamation; and official government announcement, representative; a person representing others, repeal; to revoke or annul something, declaration; a public statement, and revolution; a sudden complete change of government. The next couple slides were about proclamations that the king (King George III) made, but we only got through one of them. This slide was about the Proclamation of 1763. This Proclamation basically stated that nobody could settle in the Ohio River Valley, because Britain was afraid that everyone who moved farther away would be less responsive to Britain’s laws and not buy British products. Guess what? No one listened. Good job Britain. On an off-hand note, my friend got me into this YouTuber who does comics and I thought it was related to history I would show it to you (Mr. Schick). Here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcNTEyEqxH0

Are Grace and Hopscotch insane? YUP!

                Today in Human Geography was a gift from Mr. Schick (probably because we weren’t being very cooperative). At the beginning of the class we had an extremely short discussion about teachers not being able to dress down. Mr. Schick honestly didn’t care that much about it, but he decided to dress up for today. Since the teachers were all trying to wear orange today, Mr. Schick got some orange paper and put it into his coat chest pocket so it looked like a handkerchief. After that we discussed protests and whether or not they were a good thing. I honestly think that protests are OK until you start breaking laws, but then they need to be stopped (if you’re breaking laws while doing a protest, it has either become a party or a riot, neither of which will help prove your point). Abby even looked up the definition of riot and Angela told us a story about how they had to walk through an anti-Trump riot on their drama trip to NYC. Mr. Schick also asked us if we would participate in a protest if we could, and I honestly wouldn’t. With the way protests have been going lately, I don’t think it would be a good idea to be involved in a large-scale protest. After that Mr. Schick decided he was done with our interruptions for the day, and let us do blog for the rest of class.

Bathroom pool; powered by urinals

Today in Human Geography we had another non-productive story time with Mr. Schick (Yay!). First, Mr. Schick finished his Gumby story (the second one). After he plunked the nun in the ribs, she thought someone had hit her, so she looked around and was really freaked out. When she found out it was a Gumby toy, she ripped it apart. However, there are little metal wires in Gumby that scratched the nun’s hand up badly, and the nun started crying because it hurt. Mr. Schick then freaked out and confessed that he was the one who did it, and the nun ran out of the room to the nurse. When the nurse came back Mr. Schick got into quite a bit of trouble, but there were more stories to follow. Mr. Schick told us about the time he survived a tornado, where the sky turned green and he and his family hid under their mattress to be safe from the storm. The storm destroyed his school, and this led to another story because Mr. Schick still had to attend school, but they crammed his school into another school. Mr. Schick was bored in class one day, and decided to use the restroom to get out of class. The teacher let him go and he went into the restrooms and used the bathroom. What Mr. Schick found was really cool were the urinals and how they went all the way to the floor. They also made really cool noises when they flushed, and Mr. Schick decided to flush all of them at once multiple times. This flooded the bathroom, and Mr. Schick had to escape through the window. When Mr. Schick got back to the classroom, he realized the teacher had left to look for him. When the teacher came back, he told Mr. Schick the bathroom was flooded. Mr. Schick said he didn’t know that and then received corporal punishment. There were a couple of other punishment stories that Mr. Schick told us that weren’t as funny, and then the class just told stories.

Revenge of the Blockheads

                Today in Human Geography we mostly talked about different subjects and debated over taking the tests. At the beginning of the class we talked about what Mr. Schick’s other class was doing (The one with foreign students). Mr. Schick’s foreign student class was actually rewriting the Declaration of Independence in the standards of today, the rewritten sections having to do with rights for certain people like slaves and women. Mr. Schick even said the students might send their modified Declaration to Washington. Next we had an extremely long debate about whether or not we were going to have a final test. Unfortunately, everyone had different opinions on what we were going to do which dragged out the process for an extremely long time until Mr. Schick just ended it. In the end we had a vote, which I did not vote in because no matter what option I was going to get an A in the class. The vote tallied so that we wouldn’t have a final test, however I would have liked to have a third-party entry into this called Gary Johnson just so I could get my vote in (Just kidding). Lastly, Mr. Schick told us a great story about Gumby, in which his Gumby eraser landed in his teacher’s coffee cup. He began the second part of the story where his full sized Gumby hit his teacher’s ribs, but didn’t get to finish because the bell rang.