I'm still a bit rusty...

For the debate, I felt the same as how I would whenever I'm about to debate. I was a bit nervous but because I knew most (and maybe disliked a couple) of the people the butterflies were very mild. I never quite fully understand the topics I usually debate on. If i did, you'd see me in full debate mode. But unfortunately, standardized testing was neutral to me. Therefore, I didn't really have any strong feelings for it... For the beginners in debate, I'll say this bluntly, you guys shouldn't be in advanced if you have no experience in debate whatsoever and, frankly, it bothers me. But during the debate the beginners did really well. There is always someone who can't speak or portray their ideas well and in the debate I found out who it was. But this guy did better than the people last year and the year before so I'm kind of proud. The points were really good but the strategies used by some debaters made me want to shrivel up and hide(I'm a very harsh critic, sorry). I really like this debate though and I was happy to see a couple of the older debaters there. They were really good as always and I'm glad their strategics and way of speaking didn't necessarily change but it did improve. I like to make my speeches funnier but it's really difficult to me especially because my speeches go right to my main point and I'm not good at elaborating off of that one point. So I hope the next debate will be much more funnier and better than our first one! :)

First Debate Ever

Last week was the first debate I had and I had no idea what I was to do. I was also nervous about going to the front of the class because I didn't know anyone in that class. I also was unprepared before giving the speech and did not understand what had to be done. I did pretty bad and hope to improve on the next debate.

Week 2

Hey guys! Ezekiel here. I just want to start off by saying that I realized in this class we won't be acutely learning about debate, but also worldwide phenomenons that trigger the common people's interest. For example, we have already talked about educational purposes such as SAT/STAR Testing, and this week will be on "gender-neutralization." At first I thought this class would be just on Jury purposes, such as dealing with the law in court, and this would be our training to be somewhat relevant to a lawyer. Now I have realized taking this class has been an excellent choice for me, and I hope that applies to many of you as well.

For my first debate, I really don't know what to think of it. I guess it was decent for my first time, but I know there are a lot of different tactics and styles involved in being the victor(s) of an argument. I noticed that first timers were pretty nervous at first, and some including me probably would've peed my pants (.Good thing I'm used to performing or going up in front of an audience for music-related events). The presentation on your part shouldn't be all that scary, especially if you already know what you're talking about, otherwise, good luck. If I was more prepared, I knew I should have mentioned other life-related issues to relate to the debate to make it seem more agreeable.

The next thing I want to mention is my talking speed. Five minutes at first seemed like the shortest time, and I thought I would probably run out of time, and decided to talk a bit faster. If you guys don't remember, I finished quite early and had no idea what to do. I should have gone more in depth on the pro's of eliminating SAT/STAR Tests, but again I thought I would be short on time.

Lastly, I would like to point out the counter-arguments. To me, proving someone wrong is by a landslide more satisfying than have a really strong point myself. If I catch a statement off-guard and has holes in its armor, what my mind evaluates in how to respond is never what my mouth says. Therefore, even though a lot of us may have had good retaliations, we never seem to speak the words we wanted to say. Even watching others present to me, I felt nervous for them for some reason, and that would probably be one of the factors relating to my rebuttals.

If you guys have not yet seen this upcoming Friday's debate, you should visit here: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/27/137342682/the-end-of-gender I would also like to mention a very interesting comment related to this topic:

Polly Yobek (pollyolga) wrote:

"The comment asking for an "age neutral" society underscores the fallacy of a "gender neutral" society. Pretending something isn't there doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Let's take the "age neutral" argument. In our "age neutral" soceity, let the elderly stand on the bus and subway - they don't need to sit any more than anyone else. We should eliminate Medicare and all other programs that cater to the elderly. "Age neutral" would require no nursing homes and no retirement age. Likewise, if our society is "gender neutral," we should not have gynecologists. We should stop women from carrying babies because a pregnancy makes a woman fundamentally different from a man. Both arguments are ridiculous. Those who argue for gender neutrality can fool themselves into thinking they are progressive, but really they are exhibiting stupidity. Men and women are biologically different. Some of us may not feel that we completely fit our gender. I, for one, have always felt more masculine than feminine and have never really felt like a woman. But I was born a woman and am biologically a woman. I have accepted that fact rather than force society to make my situation seem normal." Have a nice day! :D

Debate Topics Week 3

Ready? Set? Here we go!

Debate topics for this week, as promised, all related to sex/gender:

THW not require or disclose the sex of children until they are 18, including on official documents.

THW have a quota of female executives.

THBT sex is no longer a protected class.

Good luck :)

Ms. Krissy

Sup guys!! I think the debate was great!! Everyone did a good job getting llots of ideas and bringing it into their speeches.

Week 2: First Debate!

There's a lot to say about this one, but I'll try to condense and summarize. Last Friday was the first time I ever had a real debate. I've always been a little hesitant to speak up in front of people (which is why I'm attending this class in the first place!), so when Ms. Krissy said we were debating, you can bet I was nervous. Well, in the beginning at least. I gradually eased up as my turn came up. A little strange, huh? I guess I just wanted to get it over with. Plus, everyone else looked natural and... hm, ready and composed, so I suppose they're performances gave me a little boost of confidence. Especially Tiff, all bubbly and laughing. Then Ms. Krissy called up the Member of the Government, and I inhaled and walked down the aisle with the clamor of thumps and wooos behind me. That helped lots. Thanks guys! (thumbs up!)

I'll be

honest that while I was up voicing my point to the opposition, I thought my performance w

as decent. I was trying to be as literate as I could without overdoing it. Unfortunately, I probably should elaborate on my points more and add more substantial information, since in th

e middle of it all I had a really unprofessional pause because I wasn't sure what to say next. I barely scratched four minutes (and the time limit was five). Before going up, I should estimate the time my points would utilize, then add to it if I have more time, whether the additions be refutes or increments of the house's previous statements. Obviously, to do so would take more analytic skills on my part.

That takes me to something else I should work on: creating strong refutations against the opposition. I realized that Michelle had some decent refutations that I think I could learn from. Then both Whips were good too, with a good amount of solidity in their speech's essences and mental composure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL WONG!

Weekend Food for Thought

Just a heads up for you guys...

At the beginning of class today, we talked about gender and Michelle Obama's visit to South Africa for a Women's Conference. Next week's debate topics will be related to gender/sex, so start thinking. I will post them before Monday so that you can get a head start. HERE is the story I was talking about today... I would read it!

:) Ms. Krissy

Prompt Week 2

Hi!

I just wanted to tell everyone how impressed I am with each of you! What a wonderful first debate you all had. So... for you blog this week, I want you to blog about the debate. How do you think you did? What did you like or dislike? What did you observe about your own speaking abilities? What do you want to improve upon over the summer?

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Krissy

Deadly Protests against Al-assad in Syria

Since in March 2011, the Syrian people have been protesting against their own government. Since then, more than 1,300 people have been killed and many thousands more contained. On every Friday, prayers go out and protest against Assad. In Damascus, protesters have been assualted by the security forces with tear gas and live ammunition. The protest all of Syria have at least some fatal result due to the firing of the sercurity guard. In the capital's Barzeh district, three people were shot by snipers and died. Syrian state TV said that some unknown men were the cause of some deaths with some security gaurds wounded as well. In Homs, two protesters were shot dead by sercurity force personnel. The Local Coordination Committees that watch the Syrian protest say there are military trucks blocking the roads in the center of Homs. On that day, there were thousands of protesters in Homs, Damascus, and other cities in the east. In the weeks before, activitist have joined Syrians to join their demonstrations on each Friday. For this week, their slogan on Facebook is "Bashar is no longer my president and his government has no longer represent me." What I think is funny about this is because its on Facebook, and Facebook has been a big part of protest in the Middle East and the Arab World. An example of Facebook involvement was in the protest in Egypt against the Egyptian government. I think the president of Syria, Assad, should oblidge to the people and do the correct function of the government. With all the firing on protesters, I am shocked by the government and the uprising it may cause.

Here are some links for more information on the Syrian protest:

http://http//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8469613/Syrian-protesters-flee-from-gunfire.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13902967

These links alost have videos for you to watch as well.

THIS IS IRRELEVANT

but......

i am number 4 was a boring movie.

michelle's comment: It was awesome :)

Women Revolt in Middle East For Rights?

After so long, I have finally understood how blogger works. So if you guys have not known, Saudi Arabia has banned women from driving( since I don't know when, I tried looking up several websites for this information, but I'm still working on it). Many cases where the women of Arabia have already protested by taking the wheel of cars, recording videos, and posting them where the public can all see.

For all I know, women have been protesting since 2008. Recently on Tuesday, reporters have taken the time of Hilary Clinton for why she has not spoken out for this event of women's rights. If you guys didn't also know, Clinton had successfully gained women's and children's right back in 1995. Take a look below why:

“This is not about the United States. It is about the women of Saudi Arabia. And what these women are doing is brave and what they are seeking is right. But the effort belongs to them. I am moved by it and I support them, but I want to underscore the fact that this is not coming from outside of their country. This is the women themselves seeking to be recognized,” Clinton said.

Additionally, Saudi Arabian women have asked Subaru to boycott all of their own markets to motivate this event.

Last but not least, America has a very distinct bond between ourselves and Saudi Arabia. Many people have now put aside on what they want to see for human rights, and have turned to the support of Arabia ultimately. The U.S. has also counted of them for destroying the Yemen's plots against the U.S.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Yemen )

Anyways, in Egypt there has been a protest on the date of January the 25th. This protest happened because Egypt was inspired by the revolution in Tunisia. Thousands of Egyptians would march on the street protesting against poverty, unemployment, government corruption, and autocratic governance. The government tried to stop the protest by banning twitter but only enraged the protesters. The government also sent a riot squad to protect them. Everyday, there would be injured citizens and a lot of arrested people. Protests occurred in many places like, Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez. After this event the past leader of Atomic Energy said that he would lead the protesters. The government then started banning and blocking Facebook or any types of communication. This made the protesters find new ways of contacts. The president of the United States said that he had a talk with Egypt's president and said to take steps to change. The streets of Egypt was quiet after this talk with the president of Egypt.

Toddler's solo bus trip from Montgomery to Shrewsbury

A two-and-a-half-year-old toddler managed to travel alone 28 miles from Powys to Shropshire. He got onto the bus at Montgomery on Monday morning. He was finally noticed when the bus reached its destination at Shropshire. The driver immediately contacted Shrewbury police. The boy was unharmed throughout the whole time. A full investigation is underway but it is still unknown.

Related News:Africa .Ivory Coast to Burkina Faso Train Runs for First Time Since Vote Crisis

Burkina Faso is a smal country located in West Africa. The country is landlocked and requires Ivory Coast to access trade with other countries for their famous cotton. Burkina Faso produces many cotton, and to gain better access to Ivory Coast; Burkina Faso started to build a railroad leading to Ivory Coast. The process of the railroad was then halted due to violence between its own countries elections. Just recently Burkina Faso has just finished the railroad and for the first time, sends a train towards Ivory Coast's capital fro Burkina Faso's Capital. This is where Burkina Faso is located.

Burkina Faso's cotton fields.

WEEK 1. chinese officials

AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS...................

blogger has finally worked. yay. :).

anyways,

this topic is ......goat.

So, after looking up some Australian news, i found something that was actually interesting, hahaha. K. FOCUS TIME NOW. hi brandon and hi william

=). and special thanks to michelle for letting me use her computer and fixing this blogging problem! KAY. FORREALS NOW. bye.

Thousands of Chinese officials stole 800 billion Yuan(123,610,389,253.60 USD), fled mainly to U.S.

1 USD dollar = 6.4725 yuan

1 yuan = 0.1546 USD dollar

These lame-o's from BeiJing smuggled the money by using offshore banks then transferred it to different parts of the US, Australia, Holland and Canada. This had begun during the mid-1900s. These dorks covered up these funds by pretending that it was a business or private companies.

yay for asian people on money. :D. And now, thanks to these corrupt noobs, the Communist Party now has moniters watching over the other government officials. hahaha. Anyways, i think that these people are such noobs. and i'm pretty shocked..i guess? hahah. well. i hope these people die. :D..

YAY. now i'm officially done.

now to watch INCEPTION with michelle! bye peeps!!

Class Check

Hi guys,

Can you all please make sure that your in the correct class? Debate 2 is intermediate and Debate 3 is advanced. If anyone still has not received an invite please email me ASAP.

Thanks,

Ms. Krissy

Obama Withdrawing Afghan troops

President Obama made a publicly telivised speech today about the withdrawal of 10,000 American troop from Afghanistan later this year. Even better, Obama also announced that another 23,000 U.S. troops will be expected return by 2012. By then, there will be about 68,000 troops still established in Afghan. All US troops are scheduled to return by 2013.

Week 1: Sudan: Amnesty Wants China to Arrest Al-Bashir Blog

I was feeling the need to type after working with numbers in my pre-calc/trig. class, so I figured, why not put that need to use and finish up my debate homework (well, partially, as I still have my T-chart to work on)? After all, I'm in no mood to solve math problems, even if the next class is precariously close and procrastination is not a good idea.

I began searching up African news and, conveniently, came across a website for news from Africa. Well, that's nice. Saves me time. Click. Scroll. Rather quickly, a particular article catches my eye. Actually, the word "China" did. And then "arrest". Close enough though, right? As I scanned the letters displayed on my computer screen, I fou

nd that what I thought would only be mildly interesting was actually very much similar to a good story. I like stories.

Especially those regarding dragging some diabolical person into a dark, dreary, pungent little

prison, cells all infested with ticks and rats and stagnant air... Everyone likes a bit of dirtiness in a story right? You want that sinful stuff to hook you in and give you the excitement that cann

ot be acquired by n

ormal means.

Finishing up the previous paragraph made me realize that I should start focusing on what my blog is really about. The news isn't just a story, after all. It's something that is really, truly happening, whether near your home or across the seven seas. This time, the something is the threat of 2011's Sudanese president, his scheduled meeting with the Chinese president, and how the Amnesty is attempting to save China.

So, we have Omar Al-Bashir, Hu Jintao, and the Amnesty International. If you didn't know already, Al-Bashir happens to be Sudan's president and Hu China's. Now, you would think that a meeting between such high-ranked people would be, eventually, inevitable

, no? I suppose that is true. If you're famous, you tend to meet other famed people. Therefore, there

should be no disturbance coming from this meeting. Some think otherwise.

Al-Bashir has been issued two arrest warrants by the ICC (International Criminal Court) in 2009 and 2010. There were ten counts in the charge for criminal responsibility. Some are murder, torture, and rape. Like I said, d

iabolical person...and people usually do not want a person like this walking into their country. So, should China welcome the Sudan president? Amnesty gives a flat, str

aight-out "no". They are in fear that Al-Bashir's step into the flourishing country will taint it, that "alleged perpetrators of genocide" would gradually begin China's dark descent. The A

mnesty believes that China must arrest Al-Bashir once he has stepped into their territory. If not, dueo federal ties and laws with the ICC and UN Security Council, China will be perceived as an "accomplice to crimes under national law."

That would be basically the end of the article. I think it was rather interesting. Just imagine. China becoming related to the underground society. If you have a country of strong economy, education, stabilit

y, and you turn bad (horrible choice of word, I know), there's a chance you will become the world's most powerful enemy. I say it would be best to avoid this turn of events, so I agree with the Amnesty. If not, China can choose to take other actions to prevent the conspiracy accomplices from flooding into it.

Debate Topics Week 2

Hi Guys!

Here are your debate topics for this week :

THW eliminate standardized tests

THW eliminate the A-F grading system

THW teach I.D. (intelligent design) in addition to evolution.

Remember that THW is "This House Would".

Good Luck! See your Friday

Week 1 Welcome :)

Welcome!

Hi everyone!

This is our class blog. After class today, I will post the debate topics for next week.

For this week's blog, I'd like everyone to find a news story from a country that you aren't familiar with. Think of looking into the Middle East or Africa or even South America. Once you find the story, I'd like your post to be commentary about it. What intrigues you? Were you surprised? Shocked? Are there similar issues in other places? Why did you choose that area or that piece of news?

Good luck!

Ms. Krissy