Reflect Your Respect Campaign

Doha, Qatar's city capital, has been chosen as the place for the 2022 world cup. They are worried about preserving the culture when many tourists arrive, so they set standards for the dress code. All women and men must wear clothing that covers their shoulders and reaches to their knees. One of Qatar's flyers says "If you are in Qatar, you are one of us." They are being printed in both Arabic, and English. This is so they can  understand the Islam culture better and have a higher respect for the country.
     If you have strong religious beliefs, then I'm sure you wouldn't like it if someone disrespected that. It not only has to do with clothing, but it's also what you say and how you act around everyone. I think that there is nothing wrong with Qatar's campaign. They are just trying to get people to understand where they are coming from.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/05/27/Qatar-to-launch-reflect-your-respect-dress-code-campaign/7301401224302/

A Thought On Cubicles

We all have those fears. You know, the ones where you don't think the elevator will open? Or the ones where your swimming underwater and you think someone will be above you, blocking your source of air?
    Well this is kind of like that.We would like to tell you about cubicles. Cubicles include your own personal claustrophobic space, with walls. So about the fear... They take away your sense of freedom and make you wish that you were more successful when you go back to your high school reunion. While the rest of your old classmates are out there living life, working as doctors and lawyers, living on the side of the lake in a mansion with a dog, cat, bird, and maybe a  Jesus Lizard kept in the three story library, you will be working in a cubicle. You will be living in an apartment, three months behind on your bills, with a leaky refrigerator that screams at you all night long. Your neighborhood will consist of cracked pavement and broken windows emitting muggy drafts through the breaks in the glass.
      So do you kind of get our point now? Well you're not going to get away that easily. So back to the cubicles. You are sitting there and there is that one guy. The guy who has the nasty, terrible cough of death. You don't want to sit near them. The longer you sit there, the more you want to leave. You see gray all around you. Gray is all you can think of. The air is hot and it is hard to breathe because the walls feel like they are closing in on you. You hear telephones ringing all day long and hundreds of fingers tapping on keyboards. Ring ring ring...tap tap tap....ring ring ring.... tap tap tap.
       Staring at the clock minute by minute, the day is lugging by. You are awaiting your only escape of the day, which is a twenty minute lunch and most of it is spent on fighting over the microwave. You constantly think, why? Why did I do this to myself and not pay attention in high school?
       Now think about what you thought before reading this blog on cubicles. Did it make you change your perspective on them, or are you that one guy who is headed down that road? But if you actually work in a cubicle and are reading this, we feel your pain and are sorry if it comes across as offensive. We did not mean it that way.

Co-wrote by: http://ariel1996journal.blogspot.com/
 http://manofdepravity.com/2013/10/keep-your-job/office-cubicles/

Disney's Big Hero 6 Official Teaser Trailer

From the creators of Frozen and Wreck It Ralph, Big Hero 6 is born to the big screens. Big Hero 6 was inspired by the marvel comic book and taken to life by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It revolves around a 14-year-old Hiro Hamada and his closest friend (who is a robot) Baymax. A dangerous turn of events sends Hiro, Baymax and his friends on a journey to solve a mystery in the streets of San Fransokyo. The release date is currently set on November 7, 2014. The creators did a lot of research on robotics prior to making the film. Engineers at Carnegie Mellon, working in the new field of "Soft Robotics" which are made with inflatable vinyl, are trying to make robots that are very pliable and gentle. One of the directors of the movie, Don Hall, says the technology “will have potential probably in the medical industry in the future.

Teacher Made Students Pay to Use the Restroom

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/report-students-pay-to-use-bathroom-with-play-money/26068708

A teacher at Mill Plain Elementary School in Washington state was accused of allegedly making her students pay fake money to use the restroom. This caused two third graders to have accidents. The teacher uses the money in the curriculum and the students earn it by good behavior. They can use it to buy snacks, toys, and bathroom passes. A few of the students decided to spend their cash on snacks instead of the restroom because they wanted it really bad, but they also had to "go". The district maintains no students are denied the right to use the bathroom. Even though the students get breaks throughout the day, it is up to the teacher to manage those breaks. Since when did monopoly money cause such acts from a teacher?

The end of the school year

There is a little over three weeks of school left. I guess I would say that I have mixed feelings about it. First of all, I'm really sad that my Senior friends are leaving this year and also because I will be a Senior next year and I will miss some great people at school. I also still haven't figured out which college that I for sure want to go to.
I am glad that this year is almost over because I am sick of all the testing and projects that I have had this year, and there have been a lot. They say Junior year is one of the toughest and they are right. Just keep at it everyone, you will do great!

 

http://www.weareiu.com/blog/the-iu-related-life-and-times-of-chris-moore/a-super-summer-sneak-peak

Is There a New Form of Robots Already Here?

http://www.instablogs.com/a-campaign-to-ban-launch-of-killer-robotsyes-you-read-it-right.html

Am I the only one that thinks this is disturbing? Well people, this is where our future is headed! Personally, this makes me a little worried for my future but we can't control everything so we can only wish for luck. 

 The scary thing about these robots is that they will be able to identify and fire on targets without human intervention. They will be the ones who make the choice on when to take a human life. 

"There is a sense of deep discomfort with the idea of allowing machines to make life-and-death decisions on the battlefield with little or no human involvement," said Kathleen Lawand, head of the arms unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Some people say that these robots go against standards of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. What do you think? Should this idea be banned and go into the book of  History's Wost Inventions?

Not Enough Troops?

You all must know about what is going on in Nigeria right now, which is about the abduction of nearly 300 school girls. So how did this happen exactly and why didn't Nigeria respond sooner? These are questions that we are all asking.
According to the Amnesty International  Report, Nigerians were apparently already informed of the impending attack. They could not get enough troops to respond and word didn't get around soon enough. They only had about 15-17 soldiers and a few police officers in Chibok, but this was no match for the 200 Boko Haram fighters who kidnapped the girls.
The government of Nigeria claims to have responded with troops, helicopters and airplanes immediately after it happened.
Why is it that we have instant access to the world around us; our voices traveling all over if we need help.
And we are heard.
Nigeria should have a better voice than what it is given and there needs to be a better form of communication so that the children are more protected in the future.
                                              

People take part in a vigil in Washington, held in the wake of the kidnapping.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/michelle-obama-outraged-nigerian-girls-kidnapping-article-1.1787173