Ancient Egypt: By Taylor & Caiden

Church on Sunday.

On Sunday several members of my family and I went to church at the Summit in High Point. It was VERY fun and there was a good message. There are a lot of nice people at the church and there is even a band that sings on the stage. It's like a rock concert every Sunday!

The message that the preacher talked about was about making a DIFFERENCE, instead of just making a POINT. The way he explained this was by referring to the a story in the book of Luke. (Luke 15:25-32). The story is about a King and his two sons. The younger son knew that when the king died he would get half of the inheritance and the other brother would get the other half. The younger brother told his father that he wanted to have his half now. He didn't want to wait for it. The King did as his son asked and gave him his half and the younger brother left the kingdom. Years past and the brother blew his money on things that were looked down on. When he ran out of money he began working for people, getting little pay and was starving. The brother knew that he had done wrong and decided to ask his father if he could work for him, that way he could be at home and he would at least get 3 meals a day. When the brother got home he did not get what he was expecting. When the brother walked up he was embraced in a huge hug by his father. His father was so excited the the lost brother had finally returned that he exclaimed that they would kill the fattened calf! The brother went inside with his father and they celebrated. While they were celebrating one of the servants told the older brother, who was working in the fields, that they were celebrating because his brother returned and that they cut the fattened calf and that he should join them. The brother didn't go in. The father went to the older brother and asked him to join them but the older brother said this....“All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing that you told me to do. And in all that time you never gave me even one goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” As you can see the older brother does not feel that the younger brother deserve this and it is not fair that he gets it when the older brother has been loyal to his father the whole time. But the father sees it as he is making a difference in his sons life. He could tell him that he is not welcome back home, that would be making a point, but he wanted to make a DIFFERENCE.

I think the lesson was very powerful and meaningful. It was one of those times when the preacher says something and you're think in your head “how did he know that.....where does he have cameras hidden at my house?”. I think that everyone should hear this and figure out who they are....... The father or the older brother?

When I was younger my cousin and I would fight ALL the time. Everything that we said to each other was about whether something was fair or not. Sometimes instead of us making a POINT about whether it's fair or not we could have helped out the adults, by not fighting, therefore making a difference. Just a few days ago my mom said that her and my aunt were going to get Starbucks and I said that if she got Starbucks then I want Starbucks, that's not fair. As soon as I said it I realized that I was being the older brother and my mom and I laughed SO hard and she said, "What's your point?". That was one of those times when I realized life isn't always about being fair or making a point. 

There is a lot that I could do to make a difference. For example, The Summit does an event called The Big Serve where you volunteer around the community. I could make a point by telling people what it is or that they should help out or I could make a difference by actually volunteering myself. I chose to volunteer. What will you do?

Mesopotamia

Beginning in the year 4,300 B.C. a series of great cities and empires dominated the plains of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was located in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which were used as the main way for transportation of goods. There were many people in Mesopotamia, so the rivers didn't supply enough water with all the daily activities they had to do. To compromise for this they built dykes, canals, and channels to capture the flood waters. 

Mesopotamia was divided into city-states. Most of the cities contained about 5,000 people, although Uruk had a population of 50,000 at its peak. Mesopotamia was the first "string of cities". Each city-state had a king who was the representative of the gods. The kings lived in a ziggurat, the holy tower, that had a spiraling ramp. In the center of every city was a temple where they kept all the food. They also sold it from there, along with other goods. Eventually most of the city-states developed into empires, including Sumer, Akkad, Ur, and many more. The best known out of all of Mesopotamia's Civilizations was Babylon. During the second millennium B.C., it rose from a providential capitol to the center of a kingdom that encompassed southern Iraq and beyond. 

In Mesopotamia the first type of writing was formed,. It was called cuneiform and it developed in Sumer. Sumerians wrote on clay tablets using a wedge, like a pencil, to carve in the soft clay. Having this writing allowed the people of Mesopotamia to keep trade records. Also scribes recorded the first literacy work known to western civilization. The literature followed the epic story of king Gil Gamesh, who embanks on a quest for immortality but ultimately failed. 

The Mesopotamians were very important to modern day civilizations. They left a legacy of law, literature, and engineering, for modern nations to build on. 

Watch a video about Mesopotamia HERE!

CNN Student News 9/13/12

Tuesday night, violence and anger in Egypt and Libya broke out. In the Egyptian capitol Cairo, protesters attacked the embassy. The Embassy is the building where the ambassador, the diplomat that represents the U.S. in other countries, and staff work. The protesters tore down the flag outside of the embassy. Things in Libya were much more violent. There was a protest outside of the consulate and four U.S. citizens, including the ambassador, were killed. It was said that the protest was used as a diversion by attackers. The Libyan and Egyptian  governments said that they didn't have anything to do with this and it was to be frowned upon. The protesters were made up of a group of people who decided to  attack on their own. 

The strike with teachers in Chicago is still not over. They have still not come to an agreement with teachers pay or the stability of their jobs. Over 350,000 students go to school in this district, which is the third largest district in the U.S. Not only does this strike keep the students out of school, but sports teams are forbidden to practice. The football team has been practicing by themselves because their coach is not allowed to help them in any way. Their coach says that this is a major set back and the team needs a coach. Many of the players want to play college football and without practice or games it is hurting their chances. Other threats include the students falling far behind in school, which could lead to them repeating the year or getting bad grades. 

In 1300, the plague, also called the black death, killed 1/4 of Europe's population, a total of 25 million people. This plague causes you to have swollen lymph nodes all over your body in places like your neck. Now there is an average of 7 people per year who are diagnosed with the plague in the United States. Seven year old Sierra Jane Downing was one of them. She was on a camping trip with her family when she came across a dead squirrel. The plague can be spread by flea bites from infectious animals. Sierra's family rushed her to the hospital after she was vomiting and had a seizure. Luckily Sierra got out of the hospital yesterday and is feeling much better now. 

CNN Student News September 10, 2012.

The U.S. congress is likely to face a fiscal cliff this upcoming season. A fiscal cliff is a series of tax increases and spending cuts. The Congress will face this if the republicans and democrats don't come to an agreement on the deficit. If they don't there will be a $110 billion dollar cut on everything from education to food inspections. I think that the republicans and democrats NEED to agree on a deficit because these businesses can not afford this big of a budget cut.

Students at Florida A&M University, FAMU, will be required to sign an anti-hazing pledge to be able to attend the school. Hazing is when someone has to do a series of things involving harassment , abuse, dangerous activities, and humiliation as an initiation to get into some sort of group. The reason that this school is making everyone sign this pledge is because last year a member of the marching bad was killed in a hazing accident. There was also a report of the same thing happening to a girl on the dance team. Personally I don't think that this pledge will help that much with anti-hazing. For instance, a lot of people sign a pledge not to do drugs or drink and drive, but a lot of people still do it anyway. There is not really any way to stop this, but there are other ways that they could prevent it. Teachers should be responsible for admitting all students into functions. Also there should be a closer look at groups of kids doing this on their own.

Boston Dynamics has recently built a number of robots that can do a variety of things. Some of them can run fast and some of them can get through very difficult terrain. One of the robots that they built, named Marvel, actually beat Usian Bolts world record which was 27.78 miles per hour. Marvel's record was 28.3 miles per hour. These robots could be used for a number of things. Including helping the army, being sent to outer space, etc.

Herodotus

Herodotus was the first real historian. Herodotus lived in Ancient Greece, in Halicanassus, Caria. He was born in the fifth century, during the year 484 B.C. Herodotus' father's name was Lyxes and his mothers name was Artemisia. When he was born, Caria was still under Persian Rule.

Herodotus is called the “Father of History”. He was not the first person to ever study history, but he was the first to collect his material systematically, test its accuracy, and arrange it into a well constructed narrative. The Histories, is his masterpiece and the only known work he has. Long after Herodotus' death, The Histories was divided into seven books, beginning with Clio and followed by Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, and the last was Polymnia.

Herodotus spent all of his life studying history, writing The Histories, and traveling almost all of the known world. Herodotus had a very productive life with many accomplishments, considering that he died at the young age of 59 in the year 425 B.C.

Boone

Boone is a city located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwest North Carolina. Because I enjoy the scenery, changing seasons, and nature, Boone would be no ordinary place to live and attend college.

Coming into Boone is one of the best parts of being there. You're just driving and then all of the sudden as you are driving, the scenery changes from highways and roads to beautiful mountains, trees, views, and valleys.  Boone is the home of Appalachian State University, the place where I want to attend college. Appalachian is a very nice school, not only because the way the school looks or that they have a good educational program, but there is a LOT of school spirit! Everywhere you look you see black and yellow, whether it be a sweatshirt, a sign, a little mountaineer statue, or, like we saw, a mountaineer mobile. When you're at your house in Boone and you go outside to get dome air and you just sit on the back porch it is amazing. It's very peaceful and there isn't all that unwanted noise, such as cars driving by. You look out and see all the beautiful sights, the trees, listen to the rain and thunder, and enjoy the scenery.

Where we live when it rains, isn't it usually just gloomy and boring? What about when it snows? Well, that's fun, but we don't get much of it. In Boone when it rains it so peaceful! It's very relaxing to listen and watch it. Also it is always cool because it's in the mountains, so in the winter it's actually cold enough for snow! Personally I have only been there when it had snowed once, but my aunt said that sometimes she will go sit on the porch and listen to the snow. Did you know that snow made noise? One of my favorite parts about Boone is the changing seasons. When the leaves turn from green to orange, yellow, and red and it cools down. Then the trees loose the leaves, there is a lot of snow on them, and it's really cold outside. Then when all melts, it warms up, leaves grow back, and the flowers come back. Not only do you get to see the beauty of all of this, but there is so much to do. In the summer you can go white water rafting and zip lining, and in the winter you can go sledding, snowboarding, and skiing.

Enjoying the weather doesn't always mean sitting at home. In Boone you can take walks outside or at the shops because they are outside. It's very fun to shop outside at all the places and go to the restaurants there. I would much rather go shopping on King street outside than I would want to shop in a mall. As I said earlier I want to attend Appalachian. I have been to a couple schools and none of them are in as nice a place as ASU, with nature around them as pretty as it was there. I think that it would be amazing to walk to class every day and read your books for school outside while you listen to the birds, the wind, and the crickets.

After I told you all of this, do you see why Boone would be no ordinary place to live? When I get older I want to live her with all the the beautiful scenery, changing seasons, nature, and all the exciting the things there are to do. I don' think that it would ever get old, it is an ever changing place to live.