Narrative Story

Questionable?

            When you're only seven years of age, you don't really have doubts about things that are told to you. You take information in and it just goes right over your head without a single thought. But in those rare moments, there are times when your gullibility is tested to its breaking point. One of the most important skills to obtain in this world is the aptitude to distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction. In this short narrative, I'll describe one seemingly insignificant event, that had a significant impact on myself as a person to this day.

            The year was 2003, the month was September, and the day I don't really remember; except that it was a school day, so it couldn't have been a Saturday or Sunday. It was just the start of a new school year in Temecula, California, and we were all stuck in class waiting for the school day to end. It wasn't necessarily a bad day, because for some reason I remember colored pencils scattered across the room and pictures on paper littered all over the ground. (Then again, the memory of that day could just be my postulation about what early school years were mainly like).

            In my class there was an undeniably intimidating character whose name alludes me, since nobody really talked with him that much. Probably because of his menacing stature I can only assume. He had red hair, pale skin, and wore a spiky metal wristband. When I think back to it, I'm pretty sure the spikes were made of plastic, but that's beside the point. The daunting aspect of this kid was that he was a year older, and a whole lot bigger than the rest of us, making him a bit difficult to approach. That spiky wristband he wore is the center piece to his legacy in my mind.

            On that day, the scary kid with the spiky wristband decided to tell a story to a group of us second graders. It was short, sweet, and straight to the point. He first told us to look at his wristband, and then out of nowhere he blurted out that he had robbed a jewelry store to get it. He didn't explain anything, or go into details, he just stated that he robbed a store to get the wristband. In my mind, I had no reason to doubt him, because to me,(not to be prejudice or anything, but...) he looked the part. There was just one thing that I wanted to know. It wasn't "why does that wristband look like something from a dollar tree?", or "why are you happy about stealing?", no, instead I asked, "how did you do it?".

            Of course he had no answer, so he just sat there fidgeting and wriggling in his seat when the rest  of us were waiting for an answer. While he was sitting there dumbstruck for not being able to answer a somewhat simple follow up question, the rest of us started a yelling circle where we kept on shouting, "how", over and over again. Seconds later the teacher overheard our voices and headed straight for us, which was the signal to scram. Because the red haired boy was the only one left he was interrogated first. After being forced to tell his lie to the teacher, he was then forced to apologize to the rest of us. When I came home with this story, my parents only laughed at me for being swindled by this obvious ruse for attention. After the verbal onslaught of humiliation (laughter of parents lasting about 3 seconds), I decided that I would pay closer attention to stories being told to me from then on, and to always remember this story as a reminder to never be that gullible again.

Lena Massacre

The Lena Massacre or Lena Execution refers to the shooting of striking goldfield workers by the Russian Empire's tsarist army on 17 April [O.S. 4 April] 1912 in northeast Siberia near the Lena River. It has been suggested that Vladimir Ulyanov adopted his more popular alias after the river Lena — Lenin — after this event, although he had in fact started using it years earlier.
The incident took place at the goldfields of the Lena Gold Mining Joint Stock Company (a.k.a. Lenzoloto), located along the shores of the Lena River about 28 miles northeast of the town of Bodaybo, north of Irkutsk (coordinates for monument: 58°11′07.06″N, 114°35′01.91″E.). Merciless exploitation of the workforce provided enormous profits for the British and Russian shareholders, such as A.I. Vyshnegradsky, Alexei Putilov (both on the board of directors), Count Sergei Witte, Empress Maria Fyodorovna, and others. The working conditions at the goldfields were extremely harsh. The miners had to work fifteen to sixteen hours a day. For every thousand workers, there were more than 700 traumatic accidents. Part of the meager salary was often used to pay fines. The other part of it was given in the form of coupons to be used in stores at the mine itself. All this led a spontaneous strike at the Andreyevsky goldfield on February 29 (March 13). An immediate cause for the strike was distribution of rotten meat at one of the stores.
On March 4 (17), the workers established their demands: an 8-hour workday, 30% raise in wages, the elimination of fines, and the improvement of food delivery, among others. However, none of these demands were satisfied by the administration. With the Central Strike Committee and Central Bureau (P.N. Batashev, G.V. Cherepakhin, R.I. Zelionko, M.I. Lebedev, and others) in charge of the strike, it had extended to all the goldfields, and included over 6,000 workers, by mid-March. The tsarist government sent troops from Kirensk to Bodaybo, and on the night of April 4 (17), all members of the strike committee were arrested. The next morning, the workers demanded their immediate release. That afternoon, some 2,500 people marched towards the Nadezhdinsky goldfield to deliver a complaint about the arbitrariness of the authorities to the prosecutor's office. The workers were met by soldiers, who began shooting at the crowd by the order of Captain Treshchenkov, resulting in 270 dead and 250 wounded (as reported by a local newspaper Zvezda). These numbers were used for propaganda purposes during Soviet times. However, one of the reports from the mine dated 5 April mentions 150 dead and 100 wounded.
The public demanded the government send a commission to the goldfields to investigate the incident. Interior Minister Maklakov dismissed the massacre: "So it was. So it will be." Soon afterwards, the administration offered its workers a new contract, which failed to meet their satisfaction. News of the massacre provoked nationwide strikes and protest meetings totaling more than 300,000 participants, with 700 political strikes during the month of April, and 1,000 strikes on 1 May in the St. Petersburg area alone. The strike continued until August 12 (25), when the last of the workers withdrew from the mines and moved elsewhere. Altogether, an estimated 9,000 employees and family members abandoned the goldfields. The number of strikes in Russia had sharply declined from 14,000 in 1905 to just 222 in 1910. Next year it increased to 466 and 1,918 in 1912.
The Duma commission on the Lena execution was headed by Alexander Kerensky. His colourful reports of the incident greatly promoted widespread knowledge of the event, and also advanced his career from a backbencher to a popular leader of the Duma, as well as head of the Provisional Government of 1917. Joseph Stalin declared: "The Lena shots broke the ice of silence, and the river of popular resentment is flowing again. The ice has broken. It has started!"

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden; and the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea.
Russians sought a warm water port on the Pacific Ocean, for their navy as well as for maritime trade. Vladivostok was only operational during the summer season, but Port Arthur would be operational all year. From the end of the First Sino-Japanese War and 1903, negotiations between Russia and Japan had proved impractical. Japan chose war to gain dominance in Korea. After discussions broke down in 1904, the Japanese Navy attacked the Russian eastern fleet at Port Arthur, a naval base in the Liaotung province leased to Russia by China, which led to war. The Russians were poorly organized and the Japanese defeated them in a series of battles on land and at sea.
The resulting campaigns, in which the Japanese military attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. Over time, the consequences of these battles would transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage.

Triple Entente

The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance between France, Britain, and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente on August 31, 1907. The alliance of the three powers, supplemented by agreements with Portugal and Japan, constituted a powerful counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. (Italy had concluded an additional secret agreement with France, effectively nullifying their alliance with Germany.)
Historians continue to debate the importance of the alliance system in igniting the Great War. At the start of World War I in 1914, all three members of the Triple Entente entered it as Allies against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki, usually known simply as Ichiro (born October 22, 1973), is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally a player in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Ichiro moved to the United States in 2001 to play in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, with whom he spent 12 seasons. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including MLB's single-season record for hits with 262. He had 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player, surpassing Wee Willie Keeler's streak of eight.
Before playing in the MLB, Ichiro played nine years for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan's Pacific League. Posted by Orix after the 2000 season, Ichiro became Seattle's right fielder. The first Japanese-born everyday position player in the major leagues, Ichiro led the American League (AL) in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Ichiro is the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (The Golden Players Club). He is a ten-time All-Star and won the 2007 All-Star Game MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the event's first-ever inside-the-park home run. Ichiro won a Gold Glove Award in each of his first ten years in the major leagues, and has had seven hitting streaks of 20 or more games, with a high of 27.

Top ten list of the most overrated summer activities

1. Sleeping
2. Hiking
3. Reading
4. Playing Video Games
5. Watching TV
6. Exercising 
7. Eating Healthy
8. Running
9. Napping
10. Having Fun

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is a popular one-pot meal which is usually cooked at the table as you eat. The word "yaki" means "sautee" or "grill" in Japanese. The word is used because meat is sauteed in the hot skillet. The main ingredient in sukiyaki is usually beef which is thinly sliced. Meat slices and ingredients are simmered in soy sauce based soup. In different regions of Japan, sukiyaki is cooked differently.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb thinly sliced beef, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 package shirataki noodles (made from yam cakes) or cellophane noodles, washed and drained, cut into 3 inch lengths
• 8 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 1/2 Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into 2 inch wide pieces
• 1 yaki-dofu (grilled tofu), cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 shungiku (chrysanthemum greens), washed and cut into 2 inch lengths *if available
• For sukiyaki sauce:
• 1/3 cup soy sauce / 3 Tbsp sake / 5 Tbsp sugar / 3/4 cup water
• For dipping: 4 pasteurized eggs *optional

Preparation:

Arrange ingredients on a large plate and place the plate on the table. Mix soy sauce, sake, sugar, and water to make sukiyaki sauce. Set an electric pan or a skillet on the table. *After this point, cooking is done at the table as you eat. Heat a little oil in the pan. Fry some beef slices, then pour sukiyaki sauce in the pan. Add other ingredients when the sauce starts to boil. Simmer until all ingredients are softened. It's ready to eat. Dip the cooked sukiyaki into the raw, beaten eggs if you would like. As the liquid is reduced, add more sukiyaki sauce or hot water.

Hector VS Paris

Though Hector and Paris are brothers, their rating in warrior status is much different. Hector is experienced, brave, and courageous. Paris is a newbie when it comes to war and is completely out of his league. Though he starts out brave, in the end when the fighting gets hard, Paris runs away, scared and beaten. Hector would never have done something so dishonorable in battle, which is how Hector and Paris differ. In an agreement such as the battle between Menelaus and Paris, Hector would not have just thought about himself, rather he would have died with honor, protecting his people. (Of course Hector wouldn't lose to Menelaus anyway, but that's beside the point).

Why War? What seems to be the causes behind the war as depicted in the Iliad?

Back then it seems that the only reason for war were the petty necessities of a king. They justify their reasons for war by saying it's for their land, or for honor, but in reality, wars were waged due to the weakness of kings. In the Iliad, the main reason for the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, was because one women left to Troy. Her departure ignited the flames of battle, causing the kings greed to make the decisions rather than settling things peacefully.

Plymouth

Early relations with the Native Americans

After the departure of Massasoit and his men, Squanto remained in Plymouth to teach the Pilgrims how to survive in New England, for example using dead fish to fertilize the soil. For the first few years of colonial life, the fur trade (buying furs from Native Americans and selling to Europeans) was the dominant source of income beyond subsistence farming.Shortly after the departure of the Mayflower, Governor Carver suddenly died. William Bradford was elected to replace him and went on to lead the colony through much of its formative years.

As promised by Massasoit, numerous Native Americans arrived at Plymouth throughout the middle of 1621 with pledges of peace. On July 2, a party of Pilgrims, led by Edward Winslow (who later became the chief diplomat of the colony), set out to continue negotiations with the chief. The delegation also included Squanto, who acted as a translator. After traveling for several days, they arrived at Massasoit's capital, the village of Sowams near Narragansett Bay. After meals and an exchange of gifts, Massasoit agreed to an exclusive trading pact with the English (and thus the French, who were also frequent traders in the area, were no longer welcome). Squanto remained behind and traveled the area to establish trading relations with several tribes in the area.

In late July, a boy by the name of John Billington became lost for some time in the woods around the colony. It was reported he was found by the Nauset, the same group of Native Americans on Cape Cod from whom the Pilgrims had stolen corn seed the prior year upon their first explorations. The English organized a party to return Billington to Plymouth. The Pilgrims agreed to reimburse the Nauset for the stolen goods in return for the Billington boy. This negotiation did much to secure further peace with the Native Americans in the area.

During their dealings with the Nausets over the release of John Billington, the Pilgrims learned of troubles that Massasoit was experiencing. Massasoit, Squanto, and several other Wampanoags had been captured by Corbitant, sachem of the Narragansett tribe. A party of ten men, under the leadership of Myles Standish, set out to find and execute Corbitant. While hunting for Corbitant, they learned that Squanto had escaped and Massasoit was back in power. Several Native Americans had been injured by Standish and his men and were offered medical attention in Plymouth. Though they had failed to capture Corbitant, the show of force by Standish had garnered respect for the Pilgrims, and as a result nine of the most powerful sachems in the area, including Massasoit and Corbitant, signed a treaty in September that pledged their loyalty to King James.

In May 1622, a vessel named the Sparrow arrived carrying seven men from the Merchant Adventurers whose purpose was to seek out a site for a new settlement in the area. Two ships followed shortly thereafter carrying sixty settlers, all men. They spent July and August in Plymouth before moving north to settle in modern Weymouth, Massachusetts at a settlement they named Wessagussett. Though short-lived, the settlement of Wessagussett provided the spark for an event that would dramatically change the political landscape between the local Native American tribes and the English settlers. Responding to reports of a military threat to Wessagussett, Myles Standish organized a militia to defend Wessagussett. However, he found that there had been no attack. He therefore decided on a pre-emptive strike. In an event called "Standish's raid" by historian Nathaniel Philbrick, he lured two prominent Massachusett military leaders into a house at Wessagussett under the pretense of sharing a meal and making negotiations. Standish and his men then stabbed and killed the two unsuspecting Native Americans. The local sachem, named Obtakiest, was pursued by Standish and his men but escaped with three English prisoners from Wessagussett, whom he then executed. Within a short time, Wessagussett was disbanded, and the survivors were integrated into the town of Plymouth.

Word quickly spread among the Native American tribes of Standish's attack; many Native Americans abandoned their villages and fled the area. As noted by Philbrick: "Standish's raid had irreparably damaged the human ecology of the region...It was some time before a new equilibrium came to the region."Edward Winslow, in his 1624 memoirs Good News from New England, reports that "they forsook their houses, running to and fro like men distracted, living in swamps and other desert places, and so brought manifold diseases amongst themselves, whereof very many are dead".^[55] Lacking the trade in furs provided by the local tribes, the Pilgrims lost their main source of income for paying off their debts to the Merchant Adventurers. Rather than strengthening their position, Standish's raid had disastrous consequences for the colony, as attested William Bradford, who in a letter to the Merchant Adventurers noted "had much damaged our trade, for there where we had  most skins the Indians are run away from their habitations..."The only positive effect of Standish's raid seemed to be the increased power of the Massasoit-led Wampanoag, the Pilgrims' closest ally in the region.

This is What I learned Today – September 28, 2012

The title of the article that I read is, "Tim Cook Apologizes for Apple's Maps".
Written by, By Brian X. Chen.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/tim-cook-maps/?partner=rss&emc=rss
I learned that Apple's maps app was a huge disappointment and has made many people angry. As an Apple user, I agree with the public in that I think the application may look okay, it is completely unreliable. What's important, is that not all iOS updates are going to be good the first time around, and that we just need to give them some time to fix the problems. I felt angry that Apple would slack off in making such a bad update. Others will want to read this to see if they want to update their apple devices or not, until they fix the problems. 

Besides Afghanistan and Iraq, which world situation could push the United States to war?

Fortunately for us, the U.S. is a smart country that doesn't initiate war these days. Other than the problems in Afghanistan and Iraq, there aren't many things that could cause the U.S. to go to war at the moment. One though could be the oil disputes in the middle east, which could possibly go south if we are restricted from our power supply. Another possibility for war could be terrorist organizations, should they become too large, or frighteningly organized. The last would be a dispute with China, since we owe them so much debt, and we also want to liberate them from their communist rule.