Beef Boy's Blog

In history class we are learning about a thing called the “Status Quo”. Throughout history there are are people who promote the Status Quo by keeping things the same, and people who promote change. This has been an issue for many Governments. I think that having a traditional set of values is a good thing but we need change that makes things better. This does not mean to run peoples lives or limit freedom. Thomas Jefferson once said that we need a new Revolution for every new generation.

On March, 2, 2012 Our 8th and 7th grade classes participated in Genius hour. Genius Hour is a time to create and contribute to others. My project was an Open Office presentation about Unidentified Flying Objects or often called UFO. People from all around the world throughout history have reportedly seen UFOs  and even been abducted and taken aboard.

After the Roswell Crash, when the United States Air Force reported that an Alien aircraft has crashed in the desert. They quickly changed their story that a weather balloon crashed. After the Roswell crash sightings of UFOs have increased dramatically. Some of the people who have spoken out about what they have seen have said that they have been followed by the Men in Black. The Men in Black are men who spy on and harass those who speak out about UFOs. They follow people around and give them strange phone calls.

On February,8,2012 our class talked to a historical author Kenneth C. Davis who wrote many books including Don’t Know Much About the Presidents.We asked him questions using Skype about the American presidents and about the Revolutionary War period. We asked him about the electoral college and what he thought about it. He thinks that the electoral college was more

Our Class listening to Mr. Davis.

significant before the 21st century than it is now. He thinks that we should switch to a national vote because he thinks that it will and value to every vote.  I think that he was very interesting and smart. We learned a lot from him. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to ask all of our questions.

This week we have been working on barn quilts. We are doing this to raise money for our school at our annual Gala Auction.

Here are some steps on how to make a barn quilt yourself:

1. Sand a 4×4 feet piece of plywood.

2. Coat your piece of plywood with at least 2 coats of latex primer.

3. Draw your design on the plywood with a pencil. Make sure you know what colors you are going to paint your design. I would recommend that your first design is made of simple, straight lines.

4. Paint your design and re-coat if necessary.

Here is how far we have gotten so far:

 

This is our Barn Quilt. It currently does not have a name. We got this design from a book on barn quilts.

This is a barn quilt being worked on by Meghan (center), Grace (left), and Vanessa (right)

This windmill design is being worked on by the 7th grade boys

This design is being painted by the 7th grade girls.

This quilt was donated to help us know what a barn quilt is. It has been very helpful as we continue to work on our quilts.

This week we are doing a blogging challenge. We are writing five different posts about five different days of the week. I enjoyed doing these posts.

Monday Mash up.

Tuesday Listicle.

Wordless Wednesday.

Off the Cuff Thursday.

Freelance Friday

Today we are doing Mash up Monday. I found one of my favorite pictures from Creative Commons and changed it. This is my favorite picture because I like this building and I hope that I can visit there.

And here’s the one I changed.

The Las Vegas building after I changed it.

I remember the 6th of November like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my living room overlooking the Idaho snake river with my Mom and my younger brother. It was just getting cold and we could see flurries falling softly to the ground. We were watching CNN waiting for the results from my father’s senate election. Waiting seemed to go on forever minutes turned into hours and hours turned into weeks. I thought about the last time we sat around this T.V waiting anxiously for my father’s Governor election from a local channel and how excited we were when he won. I was seven then I didn’t understand why everyone was so happy. I didn’t understand what a Governor was all I knew was that everyone was excited and I went along with it. Being fifteen I now know how important this election was.

Mayor of New York Mick Bloomberg

The Nanny State is a reference used to describe laws and purposed legislation that control our personal lives and overreaches the authority of any local, state, or the Federal Government. I recently read a very good book about the subject called The Nanny State by David Harsanyi. Here are some examples of Nanny-like laws:

—After hearing complaints from the boys at his barbershop, Virginia legislator Algie Howell introduced a bill that would criminalize the trend of teenagers wearing their pants low on their hips. He isn’t even the first. A similar bill was introduced in Louisiana last year. Howell has also sponsored bills putting restrictions on tricked-out automobiles and overly noisy stereo systems.

—The Montana legislature may ban the use of aluminum bats at baseball games.

—West Hollywood, Calif., has banned cosmetic surgery for pets, including cat declawing.

—A new machine that emits an alcohol mist has state lawmakers in Illinois, Missouri and Maryland scurrying to ban it, even though its effects are milder than actually drinking.

—New Jersey may ban anyone under 21 from owning a credit card.

—California and Illinois want to prohibit teens from using tanning beds.

—Colorado is considering designating a state-sponsored “No Name-Calling Week.”

—San Francisco recently passed a new housing code — for doghouses.

Written by Radley Balko on Foxnews.com

and here are some of my own:

-It is illegal to advertize inflatable bounce houses on billboards in Houston, Texas

-New York City has put bans of smoking–outside

-San Fransisco regulates the amount of water pet-owners put in their pet’s bowl

-A young girl was suspended from school for giving her friend a “Jolly Rancher”

-Restaurants in California have to have a calorie count on their menus

-In a town in Georgia it is illegal to eat fried chicken with a fork

-Officials in Los Angeles delayed fast food restaurants from being built for over a year in Black and Latino (apparently Blacks and Latinos can’t decide for themselves what to eat)

What David Harsanyi is trying to say in his book is that these laws may not affect us now, but they will eventually. We need to tell our government that they are not our parents. Since when did we lose our right to be fat, unhealthy, unsafe, or to be anything else? If we allow government to tell us how to eat, dress, and how to live, we will lose our personal liberties faster than President Obama’s credibility (almost).

Mitt Romney is a businessman and politician. He was the 70th governor of Massachusetts who is running for president. Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucus by just 8 votes! Here are 5 pro’s and con’s about Mitt Romney:

Pros:

1. He has held public office before.
2. He has shown knowledge about foreign policy.
3. He has been shown to be electable.
4. He understand the economy because he was a businessman.
5. He is facially conservative.

Cons:

1. Changed his view from pro-choice to pro-life.
2. Is not fully gun-rights.
3. His health care mandate.
4. Supports ethanol.
5. Changes his view frequently.