1. Elephants 2024

       In English 10H last year, we read Maus, a book the author dedicated to his parents, who survived the Holocaust. The author’s dad, Vladek, had lots of insight into how the camps were run and the tactics those in the camps used to survive. He explained how hope plays a role in the concentration camp survivors' chance of living.  My fellow peer Tony, also had a story to go with this idea. He said there was a Chinese man who was in a prison like a concentration camp. Every day he was forced to work from dawn to dusk, moving heavy objects with no breaks and little food. There was a fortune teller who would do palm readings and told the man that he would be let out of prison on May 14th. The man took that date to heart and persevered day after day of tortuous labor, counting the days until May 14th. He hoped and trusted that the fortune teller was correct. But when the say came, there was no sign of change. The man still worked through that day hoping maybe it ...

  (img:  https://pngfre.com/sun-png/) An open letter to the sun: Dear Sun, The incomprehensible enigma of “going outside'' has always evaded my mental and physical capabilities. The mere notion that one must “go outside” is both an attack and an offense on myself, and I take it extremely personally. Perhaps it is you who is uneducated on Minecraft lore, and not me, who needs to “touch grass.”  Without the sun, there would be no necessity to “go outside” or “touch grass”, because the surface of the earth would immediately become an inhospitable wasteland with subzero temperatures, and bring about a cold era incomparable within the confines of human history. Either way, shooting a nuclear missile at the sun is good for it, right? Nuclear missiles do nulear fission, and the sun does nuclear fusion, and if you change around a couple of characters, they are basically the same thing anyways.  Yesterday, I was walking down the streets of Fremont, California, when a man ran ...

   For years, almost every critical family decision in my household, from buying a house or car, to taking a job or deciding our vacation destination has ultimately been determined through one singular method: taking two slips of paper, each with a possible decision, and selecting one, allowing it to decide our fate. Historically, this process has had exceptional results. However, it originates from a fervent feeling of faith; faith that the selected piece of paper will point us in the right direction; faith that the person choosing the chit is lucky enough to make the final and rightful verdict. The year 2007, precisely my birth month April, marked a period of prosperity for my parents who bought their first house in the U.S. and received their Green Cards. Both these achievements were accredited to my supposed luck, and I became known as a symbol of fortune in my family, responsible for picking the fateful slips of paper. The topics of luck and faith have forever been contro...

By the early 19th century, indigenous peoples of Africa had perfected cesarean section surgery with an expected recovery for both mother and child while Europeans still only practiced it when women in labor were not expected to survive childbirth. In ancient Egypt, midwifery was a recognized female occupation: in apprenticeships, knowledge about birth control, pregnancy tests, induced delivery, contracting, and caring for the mother and newborn child was passed down through generations. Indigenous cultures around the world practiced traditions during birth involving herbal medicine and nature. In China, midwifery was practiced by female midwives through traditional Chinese medicine. Midwifery is the oldest known profession in the world. It can be traced all the way back to the Paleolithic era, when pregnancy and childbirth was often undertaken in life-threatening situations. The herbal medicines developed by midwives and lay healers, the majority of which were female, were far mor...

Image Credits: WittyWiral!      The world we live in is, to be honest, extremely cruel. Most people only care about what they can take, and never focus on what they can give back to those around them. As one goes through life, they will encounter countless individuals whose primary goal is only to suck the life and happiness out of their peers, just so they can feed their own ego.     With these kinds of negative people around, it is important to stay true to who you are and face challenges with high self-confidence and self-esteem. People will try to tear you down no matter what you do. This is because you can never truly please everyone in your life; someone will for sure have some kind of issue with whatever you are doing.      This is why it is my strong belief that holding on to the education you receive, the intellect you build, and the knowledge you acquire throughout your life is one of the most important things you can do. This ...

Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been a trending topic in the technology business. AI has merged into our lives with ease. It has provided us with self-driving cars, virtual assistants, and personalized recommendations. Considering all the advancements AI has provided us so far, it will play a key role in determining the future, whether that be for the best or the worst. To those who are unfamiliar with the term “artificial intelligence,” which I doubt you are, it is a term that refers to the capability of a computer to perform tasks that would usually need a human brain to do. It is a tool where developers program software to make decisions and think for themselves. This technology is already being used in various departments, such as driving, social media, healthcare, etc. AI is helping drivers perceive the environment, curating personalized news feeds and filtering content based on individual interests, and assisting in medical diagnosis, treatment planning,...

The Unhinged Power of a Title     "What's in a name?" Apparently a lot.      Respect is often attained as a result of how much power an individual demonstrates, and the amount of power can often be traced back to accomplishments they have achieved in their lives. What schools we attend, what positions we occupy, what companies we are employed at: all primary building blocks behind others’ perceptions of ourselves, whether we like it or not. Most of us would be more likely to trust someone with a PhD or an M.D. at the end of their name over someone without it, regardless of what the circumstances by which the person is offering advice for.      Of course, it’s wise to trust the better educated person in the field of their expertise, but unfortunately, that’s not where many people stop. We as a society elevate people who had the privilege of going to school for multiple years and getting a degree, and this elevation causes us to listen to and accept...

Week 10 The Second Rise of Misinformation –1/31 [11:58 AM]   [ IMGSRC ] In our digital age, information exists in spades, accessible to anyone with an internet connection instantaneously — which leads to… misinformation. Why is this a problem? When discussion of misinformation online breached in the early 2010s, people were concerned about edited or modified content, such as falsified videos or images, which can make it hard to believe content online. Now, our collective attention has shifted to AI. These AI models make it possible for vast quantities of falsified documents and media to completely saturate the internet in misinformation, and change society at large.These local models may be held under tight lock and key by corporate giants, such as Microsoft and Google to prevent this behavior, but recent developments and analysis question these companies’ claims of “safety”.  Despite all of the claims that these companies put out on the relative “safety” of the AI systems, ...

 Adolf Hitler is arguably the most powerful man who has ever lived. As terrible as he was, it’s important to acknowledge the immense amount of power he gained during his lifetime, and how his actions will continue to impact our society for decades to come. How did a poor man from a small Austrian village gain enough power to start a world war? Hitler started off as another common aspirant in the German Workers’ Party, which soon became known as the Nazi Party. He went from member to leader using his strong propaganda and oratorical skills. Hitler’s main goal was not Jewish persecution for a long time, and his main motivation was to bring glory to Germany and Austria, which stemmed from a childhood of resentment Germany faced from other European countries. Hitler is a prime example of how skills such as persuasion and being able to effectively spread propaganda are very important in order to gain power.  Hitler was also able to rise to power by causing civil unrest. Hitler used...

               Our planet is extremely diverse. This is true both in regards to the thousands of cultures that it houses, as well as its phenomenally unique geography. With the many types of societies and ethnicities that exist today, come a plethora of distinctive methods of communications and different languages. According to the Linguistic Society of America, more than 7,000 languages are currently spoken all over the world. However, even with such variety as its competition, one language in particular has managed to champion all the other ones. This language is globally spoken, taught, and learned and it arguably has the most amount of influence in regards to one's social, racial, and economic status.     English is the language that holds the most power in any given country in the world, even the ones whose first language is not English. As someone who has lived in a so-called "third world country" for more than half of he...

  European colonization has largely led to the world as we know it. The legacies of colonialism are ever present today. For example, environmental degradation, the spread of disease, ethnic rivalries, systemic racism, cyclical poverty, economic inequity, violence, loss of language, loss of culture, etc, came as direct or indirect results of colonial expansion. Colonizers set out to conquer the known world, seeking God, gold, and glory, and most definitely, power. The uniting factor between the different instances of colonialism and imperialism throughout history is power. There were two waves of colonialism in recorded history ; the first came in the 1400s as part of the Age of Discovery. This was the era of gold, god, and glory, where the desire for power and wealth combined with the discovery of the new world led to the exploitation and genocide of many indigenous peoples. Every country wanted to be more powerful, with more wealth and resources, than the others, and this compet...

Rap music has existed since the early 1970s and has been the most influential scene in hip hop culture. It originated from the Bronx, a borough in New York, by African Americans and Caribbean immigrants. As a genre, Rap began at block parties in New York City when DJs would isolate the percussion breaks of funk, soul, and disco songs and then extend them. This would later improve and develop into rappers speaking lyrics over various beats and become a culture that spread throughout the world. Although Rap music is seen with a negative connotation and environment around it, it has generated a diverse fan base around the world with a wide demographic of listeners, mostly among youths. Many people recognize Rap music as a representation of violence, sexual exploitation, as well as encouraging street warfare and gangs, and a strong profanity. Although it has been seen as largely negative, Rap has had a multitude of positive influences on society.  A significant effect of Rap music is i...

      “We can defeat anything with the power of friendship!” stated Twilight Sparkle after encountering a life-threatening situation. Although I am not sure that friendship can solve everything, having friends does help when times are tough.  When I was in elementary, my mom focused on getting my brother and I on the right track for the future. This included taking us to different classes every day, if it wasn’t a day of classes for me it was a day of classes for my brother. Naturally, this led to me having no time or no one to take me to play with friends outside of school. But I was content playing by myself while my older brother was grinding AMC or playing with my brother when he had the time to. When I got a cell phone, I basically didn’t have anyone’s numbers and even the ones I did have, there was no reason to contact them. I had no time to hang out with my class companions outside of school. Then COVID hit. After a few months of boredom and loneliness, I had ...

  One Trillion Lions vs The Sun A question of dominance. A question of authority. Ultimately, a question of power. This is an argument that has plagued the planet for years upon years, with good reason of course. Asking whether or not the sun has the capability to defeat 1 trillion lions is a perfectly valid inquiry, and there have been many attempts to answer it. You choose what side you’ll take.  As the late, great Mufasa from the documentary The Lion King once said, “Everything the light touches is our kingdom.” This direct attempt at colonization is a clear indication that the lions have always had a fierce contempt for the sun. For anyone questioning if the lions and the sun would even want to fight in the first place, let this answer your question.  Some say that if the lions attack at night, they would emerge victorious. This foolproof plan has inspired confidence in millions, but it presents only one problem: sleep. Lions sleep at night, so how would they b...

(image from Panera Bread promotion) You’ve probably heard of snake venom, sulfuric acid, pesticides, mercury, or pumpkin spice lattes. Hopefully, you also recognize these to be liquids that you really shouldn’t drink (unless someone DOUBLE dares you, in which case you might as well). Now, as the circumstances dictate, I suggest that we must append one more poison to our list of no-nos. A cup of coffee has 95 milligrams of caffeine. By comparison, a large Mango Yuzu Citrus Charged Lemonade has 390 milligrams of caffeine AND 124 grams of sugar! Not to mention, free refills. However, according to the Panera Bread menu website, a Charged Lemonade contains about 260 mg of caffeine, and 74 grams of sugar, not mentioning that these are the statistics when ice is added. In late 2022, Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old college student, who happened to have a history of heart problems, experienced cardiac arrest several hours after drinking several cups of the Charged Lemonade.  Her family brought a ...

  America prides itself on being a capitalist country. From fighting for individualism and freedom during the American revolution to repressing communism during the Red Scare, capitalism has always prevailed in American society. Capitalism is defined as an economic system in which private profiting and business practices are encouraged rather than having the classless society and public controlled businesses that communism encourages. Although capitalism has had many positive impacts on American society such as supporting innovation, economic growth, and economic rewards, capitalism in America has also led to power being skewed in our society. image: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.capitalism.com%2Fwhat-is-capitalism%2F&psig=AOvVaw3ouSk8jOcsuVvf8CcAU2ZU&ust=1705611096735000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBMQjhxqFwoTCPjw0tGm5YMDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD  The power in a capitalistic society is dominated by individuals who ha...