Today in class we took the test. I didn't do well. I studied very hard but I did not get a good grade. I asked Mr. Schick what a failing grade would do to an A but he didn't answer! I am very disappointed with myself. I should've been more prepared. I still can't stand the fact that I failed. I will try my best for the exam and the 2 weeks following.

Today was Mr. Schicks B-Day!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SCHICK!!!!

He had something to do after school today, so Mr. Kimble filled in today. During class time I finished some HW I wanted to get done. Today, I tried to get as much work done, because I want to study for my exams.

Buddhism Continued-

Four Noble Truths:

There is suffering

Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering

There is a cessation of suffering

The Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of suffering


THE EIGHTFOLD PATH

1. Right view
2. Right intention
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness 
8. Right dedication

Judaism

Number of adherents: 14-18 million (ninth)

Call them: Jews

Geographic Location: Israel

Founder: Abraham (?) 

Holy Book: Talmud - Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)

Beliefs: ethical monotheism - God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind.

Ten Commandments -- 13 Principles of Faith

More Notes!!


Spatial Divisions                    

• Political Alliances

- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

- Commonwealth of Nations

- Organization of American States (OAS)

  _________________________________________________________________________________

Religion

• Number of adherents: around 2.2 billion (largest in the world).
• Call them: Christians
• Geographic Nation: Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa.
• Denominations: Baptists, Methodists... 

More on Christianity 

• Founder: Jesus Christ (it's Abraham in origin).
• Holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament
• Beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine - the Son of God; he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected; descended into heaven where he reigns with God the Father. 
• Clergy: Pope, priests, etc.

Islam         

• Number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest). 
• Call them: Muslims
• Geographic Nation: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa.
• Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%), Shittes (10-20%)

• Founder: Muhammad (570-632).
• Holy Book: Qur'an
• Beliefs: Monotheistic, Abrahamic
• Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage)
• Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God), and observing Islamic law. 

Hinduism

• Number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest) 
• Call them: Hindus
• Geographic Location: India, Nepal
• Holy Book: The Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized). 

• Founder: No distinct founder - it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs - probably the oldest religion, although Hinduism is less religion than a way of life, or faith. 
• Example: " As a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes, similarly an embodied soul enters new matrials bodies, leaving the old bodies." 
• In other words :: re-incarnation. 

Buddhism

• Number of adherents: 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)
• Call them: Buddhists
• Geographic Location: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 million Buddhists in the US). 

• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Denominations: Tibetan. Zen, Theravada, Amidist

Notes Continued...

Notes:

Religion

• There are 5 major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 
• They have millions of followers all believing the same thing. 

Religion can also be a dividing force around the world.

• Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)
• There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland. 
• Jews, Christians and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site. They are constantly fighting over the land.

Spatial Divisions

• Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by established social, economic, and political control. 
• You can be a member of more than one spatial group.
• Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation. 

Examples of Spatial Divisions: -----> 

• Countries
• Economic alliances

- European Union (EU)

- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Today in class, we continued to take note on Cultural Geography:

Language- Ex.) of cultural characteristics:

- Arabic unites the Arab world
- Spanish unites the Hispanic world

• Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguesse.
• Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official languages. 
• American has no official language.

Example: 

• Switzerland is a country that has multiple languages. There is very little conflict between the groups.
• English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world. 

Example: 

• In Yugoslavia many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Boshians, Albanians).
• When strong leadership died out the different groups fought a very bloody civil and how they all have separate countries. 

Example:

• In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, Two ethnic groups are dominant in the other. - the Tutsis and the Hutus
• The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis and the Tutsis are dominant in the other. 
• The US and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.

- Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group. 

- On the island of Cyprus the Greeks and the Turks try to gain control. 

Today in class we watched the rest of our movie, Slum Dog Millionare. I really enjoyed the movie, and I hope we can talk about it more in class. It really taught me about the culture of India.

Today in class, we watched more of the movie. I am really enjoying it! I have to be honest, its a little intense, but that's why I love it! I can'r wait to watch the rest! Today we got to see Jamal and Salim grow up to young men.

Today in class we watched a movie based on Indian culture. This blog is about the differences between India and the US.

• India is very compact. India has one of the biggest populations in the world and their community in very tight and close together.
• India is very dirty. India is covered in trash- the streets and the water are piled up with trash. 
• In this area violence is seen everywhere. In india, attacks are common. 
• In general India is a very poor area. Children sell things the get money because of the poor area. 
• The police don't protect the people in India- they try to hurt them.

Today in class Mr. Schick was not there! Because of this, we had a sub- Mr. Schick (on his blog) told the class to work on the extra credit work.  At the moment I have an 89- but he hasn't put the grades in. If I am happy with my final grade I will not be doing the xtra credit. But if I'm not happy with my grade then I will continue to work on the xtra credit. No class tomorrow- unit Friday!

Here are the lyrics to the Chinese National Anthem!

起來！不願做奴隸的人們！
把我們的血肉，築成我們新的長城！
中華民族到了最危險的時候，
每個人被迫著發出最後的吼聲。
起來！起來！起來！
我們萬眾一心，
冒著敵人的炮火，前進！
冒著敵人的炮火，前進！
前進！前進！進！

English Translation:

Arise! All who refuse to be slaves!
Let our flesh and blood become our new Great Wall!
As the Chinese nation faces its greatest peril,
All forcefully expend their last cries.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Our million hearts beat as one,
Brave the enemy's fire, March on!
Brave the enemy's fire, March on!
March on! March on! On!

China's National Anthem - I would say it is as if the people are angry and preparing for war. The beat is very strong and "harsh." The tone of the song- is military. "Brave the enemy's fire, March on!"

Today in class, we started a new section:

Cultural Geography

We spent to first 20 minutes of class talking about the Academic competition that was held this weekend. Our team made it to the play-offs and nailed it!

We also played a short "trivia" game show Mr. Schick could show us what kind of questions are asked- and the scores are kept.

Notes

• Culture characteristics are parts of a group everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. 
• Examples- language, religion, heritage. 

We had funny conversations about crabs, and fat pizza!

Until tomorrow!

Test Day

Today in class we took the test. I felt okay about it. Some of the questions stumped me a little bit. I'll admit- I didn't study as much as I should've. But, I am prepared to get the grade. We have class first thing on Monday- I wonder what Mr. Schick has in store for us...

Today in class,  Mr. Schick announced that we would not be taking the test. Everyone already knew this because he blogged about it. So instead of taking the test- the three groups who did not present- presented. Here are some notes from their power points.. ---

Russia

***We ended up stopping at some information about Vladmir Putin.

Prime Minister:

Dmitry Medvedev

• Previously served as a third president of Russia, from 2008 to 2012
• United Russia Party

Side Note -- This is the last year of Putin's term. In Mr. Schick's opinion, Putin will probably try to stay in office.

Legislative Branch

• the bicameral Federal Assembly of Russia, 450- member State Duma and 166- member Federation Council
• adopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse and the power of impeachment of the President. 

Executive Branch

• The president is the Commander in Chief

United Russia

• The main political party is called the United Russia

Brazil

Brazil has a federal republic government-

You don't vote for president- you vote for representative to vote. 

Brazil has a 4 year term.

Dilma Rousseff was elected as president in 2011, becoming the first female to lead again. She had a rival but pulled away with 51 percent of the votes. She was re-elected on October 27, 2014. This will be her last term for now, but can come back to run again. 

Back to the Past

When Dilma Rousseff was young- Brazil was almost like a military base. Everything was run by the military. Dilma protested--and gets arrested and spent three years in prison. She was tortured and now look... 

Mexico

Enrique Peña Nieto is the Governor

Most of Mexico's information was very similar to other countries. 

We learned about the drug-war even though it really had nothing to do with the project. 

Today in class we had a substitute. Mr. Gibbons! I know him very well- but he is very funny and friendly. In class, we were told to study the study guide he made for us. The study guide had all the information we needed to know for the test. It was very helpful! I downloaded the power point to my computer and my friends and I made flashcards and our own seperate study guides. I will be prepared for the test tomorrow.

Since I was not in class on Friday- I was not there to present with my partner. Now, I am here to take notes on some more of the classes presentations.

Syria

• Government- republic under an authoritarian regime. 

- This means that they harshly suppress the opposition and it also lacks human rights and free elections. 

President Early Life

Bashar al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965. 

His father was born into a very poor family. 

Syria has had a republic under authoritian regime since 1941 (73 years)

• Assassination
• War
• Election

Votes are rigged for Bashar al-Assad

He has been in power since 1944, because the last leader was killed in an accident. 

In Sryria you have a 7 year term---

Germany

• Federal Republic- 

President and Chancellor

President Joachim Gauck and Angela Merkel

Both had were active religiously.  

Replacing Leaders

- Impeachment

- Election

Bundestag is an group of government people who are in charge of president elections and chancellor elections.  

UK

• Constitutional Monarchy- when king and queen acts as head of a state. 
• Commonwealth Realm- a sovereign state that's a member if the commonwealth of nations. 

The prime minister of the Uk has no term limits. He is appointed by the monarch and stays in office as long as he or she can keep the confidence of the House of Commons. 

Prime Minister

David Cameron- Born on October 9th 1966

- became prime minster on June 2nd, 2010

- leader of conservative party. 

• The prime minster oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies. 
• Appoints members of the government

USA

Barack Obama is the present leader of the US.

America has a constitution based federal republic. 

- Obama will be in power for two more years. He won the 2008 election and the 2012 election. 

Russia

Type of Government- federation

- the formation of a political unity, with a central government, by a number of seperate states, each of which retains control of its own internal affairs. 

Leader

+ Vladmir Putin

• president since May 7, 2012
• previously served as president from 2000 to 2008
• His terms is over- but has changed the constitution so a leader can have a six year term rather then a 4 year term. 

Prime Minister_

This is all we got done today in class.

I was not in class on Friday- because of the play. I had performance all weekend and was very busy. I am prepared to make up any work I missed.

Today in class one group presented their power point. There project was based on France's government and I learned a lot of interesting facts like-

France

• France had a Republic government and a semi- presidential system. (Government with a president alongside a prime minister who are responsible to the legislature of a state.)
• President François and the Prime Minister Maneul are the leaders of France

• François is part of the Socialist party.
• In 2012, he ran for leader and won- on May 15, 2012 he got elected for a 5 year term.
• The Prime Minster is Maneul Valls was elected into office April 1, 2014. 
• He was born in Barcelona, Spain then obtained French nationality only at the age of 20.
• President François can be president until 2022- unless impeached or resigned. 

• In 2017 François will run again  for his final term. 
• He is up against --- Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy, Alain Jupé, and many others. 

No class tomorrow and I will not be able to attend class on Friday... so until Monday Mod 1!

Today in Human Geo we decided to go down to the second floor the check out the cancer booths. Today was Cancer Awareness day here at John Carroll, and some people came in to show us different types of cancer- like breast cancer, skin cancer, and lung cancer. I learned about skin cancer and about my skin as well.  There was a machine at one of the booths that told you what your skin tissue was like. My skin is slightly dry around my nose and forehead and I have early signs of skin damage under my eyes. I'm glad I did this because now I know to use my SPF more often and to be more careful around the sun. There was another section wear they compared two lungs- a healthy lung and a lung that has been a victim to smoking. The unhealthy lung really grossed me out. I knew before that smoking was bad- but I had never seen what horrible effects it can have on your body. I had a great time in class today.

Today in Human Geo we first went over our pop quizzes we took last week. Like I said in my previous blog, I was a little surprised at my grade. Luckily, it did not effect my grade. Mr. Schick did say that we would definitely see the questions again either on a test or on the exam. He then asked the class if anyone was prepared to present there power point projects. My group was prepared but I wanted to make sure that I checked if we had enough information. Because no one was prepared he gave us today in class time to work on it. My group and I are basically finished- except for a few sentences. During class we noticed that the bells were going off at different times. Later we found out, that we are following the "Advisory Bell." Because of this our class ended 10 minutes early. This is why Gabby and I didn't completely finish. We will finish tonight and present tomorrow in class.

Today in Human Geo, we once again worked a little more on our Power Point projects. Today I had a shadow with me today in class. When we were working on our project we asked Mr Schick if he could check if was good so far. He did - and made a few notes on our a few of slides. Right away- Gabby and I went to work and researched the information that Mr. Schick was looking for. Gabby and I got two slides done today. We do not have class tomorrow and we do not have school on Friday. I will probably contact Gabby and ask to log onto Google Drive so we can finish it over the weekend. I am not sure if Mr. Schick is giving us Monday to work on it, but either way, my partner and I will be prepared first mod Monday.

Today in class we worked a little more on our Power Point projects. My partner and I are almost finished- we need one more slide. Not only that, but we also gained a new student. My group added some information about impeachment to our P.P. Impeachment is one of the ways to get rid of (or overthrow) a leader. We talked about what steps go into the process. We did this all of class time. I don't know of we are presenting our project tomorrow- but either way, my partner and I will be prepared. Because my group is using Google Drive, we got a lot of our Power Point done- this is one of the main reasons we feel prepared for the presentation. We researched a bunch of information about China's government and typed separate paragraphs at the same time! Until tomorrow!

Today in class, Mr. Schick announced that we would be doing a partner project. Each group would be assigned a country- and we would need to find out what government they have. My friend Gabby and I were assigned China. We are using Google Drive- so both of us can work on the presentation at the same time. Near the end of class we were told to share each  P.P with Mr. Schick. Gabby and I made some very good progress. Mr. Schick told the class that we could work on the presentations in class tomorrow. Because my group had made good progress- I am prepared. I also have a lot of free time tomorrow, so me and my partner can work on it then. Until tomorrow... (Tuesday).

Today in class we took a pop *pop noise, quiz. I was pretty prepared because Mr. Schick commented on one of my blogs. I got stuck on 3 questions- and went with my gut feeling. The quiz is worth 30 points and there were 15 questions. This means that each question was worth 2 points. After I was done the quiz I estimated what I might get. My estimate was not very accurate. I felt pretty good about the quiz while I was taking- but when I saw my grade, not so much. Even though I didn't do to well on the quiz, My grade is still where I want it to be. We have Human Geo first mod on Monday, until then.

Today in class we talked a little more about the background of leaders. At one point Mr. Schick

wanted us to look up which leader suffered a tragic death in the family. I started to search the web and finally found the answer! The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's brother was killed in action when saving several Israeli from a hostage in Uganda. I got to ring the bell! I also learned that the emperor of China never graduated college. I had a good time in class today- no class tomorrow but class on Friday. I will be prepared for Friday's class. Until then...

Today in class we went over the blog that we had to do last night for homework. The homework was to look up some information about the leaders we discussed in our previous class. According to Mr. Schick- I was on a role today! I read some fun facts out  loud to the class- the fun facts are on my previous blog. -> I found some out some really interesting things today. Like, that the president of Mexico- Enrique Nieto- has been married 3 times! Overall I had a good time in class today. I am still a little upset about my grade- but I will improve in the future. Tomorrow we will be having class and we will probably continue going over the new unit. Until tomorrow!

Today in class we went over the HW assignment that was to be done over the past weekend. I found out this morning- that I had done the HW wrong. I was very upset with myself for not paying attention in class when the HW assignment was given. Because Mr. Schick is the greatest teacher ever, he told everyone that had done it wrong- to do it over for credit.

*-*-*This blogs HW assignment is to find out a little more about the countries leaders and how they became leaders.

Mexico

- Enrique Peña Nieto
Nieto won with 37.6% of the vote, despite talk of his infidelities during his first marriage, his verbal gaffes along the campaign trail and his critics who derided him as a pretty face with more hairdo than intellect
China

Born in Beijing in 1953, Xi Jinping is the son of revolutionary veteran Xi Zhongxun, one of the Communist Party's founding fathers. Because of this he was a well known figure. Mr Xi was named party chief of Shanghai in 2007 when its former chief, Chen Liangyu, was sacked over corruption charges. Shortly after, he was promoted to the party's Standing Committee and became vice-president in 2008. With several strong speeches he was elected president- and is still leading China today.

India



Narendra Modi is the 15th and current Prime Minister of India, in office since May 2014.   He previously served as the Chief Minister of Gurajate state from 2001 to 2014.  He had many experiences in his early years to prepare for his future of being a prime minister. Like, Modi became a member of the RSS after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. After Modi had received some RSS training (RSS training industry) in Nagpur, he became head of the student wing in which he was educated.- this was his first big leadership position. 

Russia

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, on October 7, 1952. After graduating from Leningrad State University in 1975, he began his career in the KGB as an intelligence officer. Stationed mainly in East Germany, he held that position until 1989. The KBG,  was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its collapse in 1991. In December 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as president of Russia and appointed Putin acting president until official elections were held. This is when his career of a leader .

Germany

  Joachim Gauck is the President of Germany, serving since March 2012. He was also a former Lutheran pastor.During the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, he became a member of the New Forum, a democratic opposition movement, and was elected as its spokesman.-This began his leadership streak. On 3 June 2010, Joachim Gauck was nominated for President of Germany in the 2010 election. 

United Kingdom

David William Donald Cameron is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party. He represents Witney as its Member of Parliament. After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between September 1988 and 1993. This is when he became interested in politics. A couple years later he had the chance to assist the present Prime Minister. There the minister asked him questions about  his interest in politics. In June 2003, Cameron was appointed a shadow minister. (one step closer to prime). On 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and on his recommendation,Elizabeth the second invited Cameron to form a government. At age 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since  Liverpool who was appointed in 1812.

France
He served in French Army in 1977.

Brazil

Mrs Rousseff was sworn in on 1 of January 2011 as the first female president in the history of Brazil.

Syria

Al-Assad is harshly criticized in a speech by US president Barack Obama.

Canada

He attended the University of Calgary, where he received both a bachelor’s degree in 1985 and a master’s degree in 1991 in economics.

Japan

He was Japan's first prime minister born after World War II

Irael

Benjamin Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel and grew up in Jerusalem. He spent most of his teen years living in the Philadelphia area, where his father, noted Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, worked as a professor

I did not do my Human Geo Assignment correctly. This is my fault and I take full blame. I should've paid closer attention in class when he announced the assignment. I am prepared to take the grade for doing the HW incorrectly.

HW Assignment Re-do.


Mexico

Form of Government- Federal Republic
Title- President
Leader- Enrique Peña Nieto







China
Form of Government- Communist
Title- President
Leader- Xi Jinping














India

Form of Government- Federal Republic
Title-Prime Minister
Leader- Narendra Modi
* as well as President Pranab Mukherjeep* ( the prime minister has a better understanding and say in the government and its activity) 

Russia

Form of Government- Federation
Title- President
Leader- Vladimir Putin

Germany

Form of Government-Federal Republic
Title- President
Leader-Joachim Gauck
Chancellor Angela Merkel

United Kingdom

Form of Government- constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm
Title-Prime Minister
Leader- David Cameron

France

Form of Government- Republic
Title- President
Leader- Francois Hollande

Brazil

Form of Government- Federal Repubic
Title- President
Leader- Dilma Rouseff

Syria

Form of Government- Republic
Title- President
Leader- President Bashar Al-Asad

Canada

Form of Government- Democracy, republic, and constitutional mocarchy
Title- Prime Minister
Leader- Stephen Joseph Harper

Japan

Form of Government- a parliamentary government with a constitutional monarchy
Title- Emperor
Leader- Emperor Akihito
*Prime Minister Shinzo Abe* (head of the cabinet) 

Israel

Form of Government- parliamentary democracy

Title- Prime Minister

Leader- Binyamin Netanyahu 

(Prime Minister heads the cabinet)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html

HW Assignment



Country- Cuba

Form of Government- Communist

Title- President
Leader- Raúl Castro

Country- Guatemala

Form of Government- constitutional, democratic, republic

Title- President

Leader- Otto Pérez Molina

Country- Italy

Form of Government- Republic

Title- President

Leader- Giorgio Napolitano

Country- Iraq

Form of Government- Parliamentary Democracy

Title- President

Leader- Fuad Mason

County- Australia

Form of Government- 

Federal Parliamentary Democracy and a Commonwealth realm

Title- Prime Minister

Leader- Tony Abbot

Country- Canada

Form of Government-  Parliamentary Democracy, a Federation, and a Constitutional monarchy

Title- Prime Minister

Leader- Stephen Harper

Country- Haiti

Form of Government- Republic

Title-President

Leader- Michael Martelly

Country- Egypt

Form of Government- Republic

Title- President

Leader- Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Country- Ireland

Form of Government- Republic, Parliamentary Democracy

Title- Prime Minister

Leader- Enda Kenny

Country- Germany

Form of Government- Federal Republic

Title- President

Leader- Joachim Gauck

Country- Lebanon

Form of Government- Republic

Title- Prime Minister

Leader- Tammam Salam

Country- France

Form of Government- Republic

Title- President

Leader- François Hollande

Today in class, three people had to take a test. This is why I haven't seen the grade on Power School yet. Because three people had to take a test, the rest of the class got to work on homework. I was so thankful because I was going to the freshman dinner- and was afraid that I wouldn't be able to finish all of my homework. I worked on all my homework and finished it. Thank you Mr. Schick! I am hoping that we will be able to get our test grades back soon, because I felt very confident about it. We will not have class for a while because- the whole school is taking a test, and we don't have class on Thursday. So I'm hoping that Mr. Schick will post the grades up on Power School. Because we got to do out HW today- I am now less stressed and am looking forward to the freshman dinner! Until Friday.