Blood Diamond Cont.

Danny Archer has had a rough life. He lost both of his parents in his early childhood, and lost them painfully. He pretty much just wants to continue living, but a rich man. He also needs a little action in his life, so he smuggles blood diamonds. I enjoyed watching him on screen because he is an attractive actor. I really felt his sympathy when he was telling Maddy about his parents. When he said that, I didn’t feel as bad for the people he killed so he could stay alive. I wanted him to get that diamond so he could have a better life than he has had.

There are 300,000 children soldiers in Africa. That is really hard to believe and very sad. The “older” rebels warp their mind while they are still young. They get the children believing that shooting people is O.K. It is terrible. There are a few places in Africa that help the children recover from that scary state of mind. It does help, but we need more of it. I wish the world would just stop fighting and live in peace, and then we would not have to read sad books and watch sad and gory movies in class. I never knew that diamonds were found the way they are in the movie, and how they are smuggled from one country to the next.


The part of the movie that made an impression on me the most was when Dia was forced to shoot the innocent man. It was sad that he didn’t even know what he was doing, but even sadder when later on; he shot people without feeling any loss of emotion. At the end of the book where he “comes back” mentally made me happy. It gave me hope that the children that are soldiers now can get better and become good people once again.


We have responsibility for buying the diamonds. If we didn’t buy them, innocent men wouldn't be shot for trying to take one just to make a little money for food. We could also go to Africa to help the children soldiers become “normal” again. This would be better than leaving them how it is now.


Word Count: 370

Blood Diamond

Because I am basically done with my Junior year of high school, I have had a lot of free time this three day weekend. I have spent this weekend reading and watching movies. One of which was the Blood Diamond. I figured it would be something good to write a blog or two about so here it is. Enjoy!

Danny Archer lives in South Africa and is a former mercenary. He still “works” for his former colonel finding diamonds. One day while Archer was in jail, a tall black man named Solomon, a fisherman from Mende, joined him. Solomon was mining for diamonds when he found a huge pink stone. He ended up burying it, so he could find it later. When he was doing that, a rebel saw that he had a huge diamond. Luckily for Solomon, the mine just started to undergo an attack. When Archer and Solomon were in the jail, the rebel that saw Solomon bury the diamond pretty much told the whole jail that Solomon had found a huge diamond, though Archer was the only one who actually believed the story. So he told Solomon that if he went with him to find the diamond, Danny Archer would bring Solomon’s family to him. Solomon agreed.

Danny Archer meets a beautiful girl named Maddy Bowen at a bar. They dance and get acquainted. She is a journalist and wants to know what exactly Danny Archer does. All he can get out is he sells blood diamonds. She is fascinated and wants to do a story on him. He is lenient at first, but decides it will be better in the long run, so he will be able to use her. She helps them find Solomon’s family at a refugee camp, but Dia, Solomon’s son, is not there. They find out he was taken by the rebels. This means bad things. Archer guesses that he has become one of the 300,000 children soldiers. Danny and Solomon go on a dangerous adventure searching for the diamond in the rebel territory. While Danny and Solomon are on their way to the diamond, the colonel decides that he wants it for himself and will do anything to get it; including killing both of the men. In a town near the diamond, a few rebel children are playing some cards. Solomon recognizes his son in the crowd. His son, Dia, almost kills them, but Solomon keeps telling him that he loves him, and that he is his father. Finally Dia gives in and father and son are now reunited. The colonel reaches the spot where the diamond is at the same time as Danny and the gang. They have a shootout and Danny’s team wins, but Danny is shot. So, they have the diamond and are on there way to be picked up, but Danny is too weak and tells Solomon and his son to go on without him. They do, and they live happily ever after…and they become very wealthy.

Word Count: 500

Scorpia: AP Lang Teen Fiction Relief

Scorpia is one of my all time favorite books. It has a complex storyline and lots of intense action. The book is long also, which makes the excitement last. I have always enjoyed the books from this series (The Alex Rider series). There have been four other books preceding Scorpia that all made me want to continue reading. They are all very well tied together relating many things in each book to other books in the series.

Although I thought that all the prequels have been outstanding, this book had a special touch to it that seemed to enhance it a little more than the other books in the series. I believe it was the setting that really sparked the flame of enthusiasm in Scorpia. Although the setting brought me all over Europe, Venice, Italy was the reason why this book was so good. The scenery was so exquisitely detailed I could almost imagine myself in Venice just be reading it. Apart from being beautiful, it also is an engineering marvel with the ways of transportation such as canals as roadways.

The plot literally takes you on an adventure throughout Europe through the eyes of a fourteen year old British spy. The excitement begins when Alex crashes a party in Venice and gets in a tangle with a Siberian tiger. The plot is bizarre from now on including the main conflict of the story of how Scorpia is trying to mass murder every child in London. It is because of this action packed plot that I have loved this book so much. At the very end of the book, Horowitz threw out a thrilling but chilling twist with Alex getting shot at the end. Ending the book like this basically forces you to read the next book in the series, Ark Angel, which I plan on reading as soon as school is out. I was kind of expecting a twist like this at the end because of the foreshadowing earlier about how Scorpia always gets its revenge.

Although I feel like I say this for every book I read, this truly is a great book. I was never bored of it; from, cover to cover I was heavily engaged and interested in what was going on. One thing that I really liked about this book is the fact that it is Teen Fiction and I have had to read Non-Fiction only in AP Lang, and this was a nice change of pace. Obviously I would recommend this to anyone because of how entertaining and electrifying it is.

Word Count: 427

Beatlemania

          In this post I will write about the history of one of the greatest bands of all times.

         The Beatles were an amazing rock ‘n’ roll group that began not in the United States, but in a little town in England.  They were each born in the early 1940’s in Liverpool.  All four were in their early twenties when their careers really got started.  Lennon started a band, along with five others called “Quarrymen” named after their high school.  McCartney joined the band in 1957 and Harrison in 1958.  They changed their name to the Beatles in 1960.  John Lennon and Paul McCartney are very nice fellows.  They both agree that they each get by with a little help from their friends.  They were a close group, and around 1960 is when they started to become a hit.

            But what really got the Beatles famous was Brian Epstein.  He became their manager in 1961.  The Beatles were an amazing group, but Epstein helped them rise to fame. The Beatles became famous nationwide fame in 1961 and worldwide in 1964.  After the Beatles made their first United States appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, their albums sold unbelievably fast.   John Lennon once said, “We’re more popular than Jesus Christ now.  I don’t know which will go first, Rock and roll or Christianity.”  All this talk of fame led to the term “Beatlemania”

            The Beatles’ were well liked mainly due to their well written songs and interesting sounds.  Lennon and McCartney wrote most of their songs.  What was different from the Beatles’ songs and earlier rock ‘n’ roll music, was theirs had more meaning.  They had some good song ideas that pleased their audience.  Another crowd-pleaser was their very different choices of sounds used.  They used suggestive imagery and artificial sounds. This was new concept to rock ‘n’ roll, and the fans were definitely curious. Some of their more famous songs include “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Come Together”, and “Something.”  Their documentary Let It Be, won an Academy Award in 1970.  The Beatles were at the top of their rollercoaster ride.

            The fame was too much for some of the members.  According to John Lennon, “Rock ‘n’ roll was not fun anymore.”  This was one reason for their soon to be break-up.  Two other reasons were business and personal related.  Some were mad that they didn’t get to be the lead singer. McCartney announced the breakup on April 10, 1970.  This was a sad day for the millions of Beatles’ fans.  They each later led their own groups or performed as soloists.  They were each good enough to be put in the spotlight of their own band.

Word Count: 444

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I just finished reading this book in my free reading time so I figured I would write up a little book report-thing on it! Enjoy! 

*************************SPOILER ALERT*************************

Mass homicide committed on an island encircled by obscurity leaves characters on their toes to the point where they start killing each other in their strive for self-preservation. General Macarthur was correct when he said that “This is the end....” This was not only true for himself but true for all of the guests other than the murderer of course. This is repeated at the end of the book by Philip Lombard, “This is the end, you understand. We’ve come to the truth now. And it’s the end.” I believe that this is the quote of the whole book because it is truly the end for the inhabitants of the island.

Throughout the story I did not believe that the murderer was one of themselves and that there had to be another person hidden on the island. If they were right, and they were, I had decided it must be Armstrong. This hypothesis was partially correct because Armstrong worked as a partner in crime with Wargrave, although, Wargrave was the master murderer behind the whole plot. Armstrong helped by pronouncing Wargrave’s death when he really was not dead.

At the end when we were told that Wargrave was the murderer behind everything, I was completely surprised because he was the one who took charge in trying to discover who the murderer was and who suggested it was one of the people amongst them. I think he was trying to make this a mental challenge for himself because had he not put his ideas on the table the others wouldn’t had suspected someone among themselves until much later. Also I believe his job would’ve been so easy that is would’ve been boring and he wouldn’t of fulfilled his lust of causing death.

Armstrong, as I stated above, was the murderer in my mind, because he was the doctor of the lot. He administered drugs to the others, he brought an obscure item, the hypodermic syringe, and he was always one of the “mini-courts” possible suspects. Although many people were mentioned during the “mini-courts” only Armstrong was continuously brought up as a possible suspect for each death. This hypothesis disappeared when Armstrong was murdered, but brought back when Wargrave explained that Armstrong became his partner in crime. Apart from Armstrong I had no idea who possibly could be the murderer.

At the start of the book, like most books starts out very slow, with the introduction of characters. This made me think that I had chosen a bad free reading book and that I wouldn’t like it much. This thought did not last because as soon as the rising action started the suspense kept me up at night. I could not wait another day to find out who the murderer really was, I had to find out that night otherwise I knew I wouldn’t be focused the next day at school, because I would be thinking about who I thought the murderer really was. As you can tell, I very much enjoyed And Then There Were None.

Word Count: 532

Future Cities Part 3

Imagine living a beautiful city with clean energy, no traffic, and self-sufficient water supply. That city is Stad Van de Toekomst.

Our energy comes from various clean and renewable sources. Our maglev turbines are extremely efficient turbines. The low friction magnetic bearing allow the turbines operate with as little as three kilometers per hour wind speed. Two water power systems harvest energy from the ocean and the river. The first, water current turbines, work like wind turbines but underwater which is better because of the constant flow of water. The second energy source is the wavebob which creates energy from the constant wave motion of the ocean. Another energy source is the power sidewalk, which flex when people walk on them. This motion is then converted into energy.

Citizens enjoy relaxing and revitalizing at our world class parks designed by the best architects, planners, and artists. Because of the constant new, colorful, and exciting additions to our parks, they are a great place to visit multiple times.

Our city is traffic congestion-free due to electric, computer-driven cars and our mag-lev. These cars, which fold up for storage to reduce parking space usage, are available at one of our many storage stations and recharged from the electricity grid and efficient solar panels. These cars are computer controlled and use sensors to determine their proximity to other cars and buildings, as well as to drive as quickly and safely as possible.

Our police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances operate on the same system. These emergency vehicles are given priority over all other cars so they can respond to emergency as quickly as possible without endangering other drivers on the road.

Food for Stad Van de Toekomst grows in farm towers located throughout the city. This growing process eliminates the large energy consumption coming from moving produce from city to city, which also lowers costs.

Our school system is considered the best in the world. We offer the highest pay for our teachers, large funding for the school, and only ten students per teacher allowing individual learning goals to be reached.


The revenue used to fund our city is created by taxing our prosperous businesses, industries, and families about €5500 and sales taxes would be 6%.

Our water is stored in underground tanks which store up to 200,000 liters. The water is pumped from the Rhine River and the North Sea into one of our two electrolysis plants, where it is split into hydrogen and oxygen. The pure hydrogen and oxygen is cooled to a liquid and piped through the city under the mag-lev superconducting magnetic railway, cooling it as it generates heat from conducting so much energy. Those pipes will lead to one of Stad Van de Toekomst’s two Hydrogen Fuel Cell plants where the oxygen and hydrogen recombine, creating pure H²O and 10-100 energy kilowatts of energy per cell.

Word Count: 478

Future Cities Part 2

Each house in Stad Van de Toekomst will have their shower water drain directly into the toilet; when flushed, the black water will be piped to one of the Electrolysis Plants. Every building will collect storm water and grey water and pipe it through their filtration-purification system to remove all the particulate and kill all bacteria. To have each house in our city reach a closed water system would be impossible if Stad Van de Toekomst was to utilize the hydrogen fuel cell and Electrolysis.

Many Electrolysis Engineers would oversee the two Electrolysis Plants, overseeing that the plants run correctly and efficiently. The engineers would also work on advancing the study of electrolysis, searching for a way to make the process more energy efficient.

A new kind of engineer produced in the creation of our city; this engineer would be a Hydrogen Fuel Cell engineer. They would oversee the HFCP and work closely with Electrolysis Engineers. They would also look over the piping from the Electrolysis Plant to the HFCP, and the HFCP energy distribution.

Some of the new water pertaining technologies in our city are farm towers, wave bobs, and autonomous pipe robot. The advantages of farm towers are that they reuse storm water to water the crops inside. Wave bobs will be placed slightly off shore, and when waves rock it, the hydraulics are pumped to power a generator that could power 1,500 modern day homes. The autonomous pipe robots would go through pipes, checking for cracks and the water quality level if needed.

Stad Van de Toekomst would use a piping system to transport gases, liquids, and sewage, because it’s a very effective system. In addition to this, we would have size-variant robots that patrol the pipes, checking for pipe leaks, water quality in potable water pipes and other possible problems.

Our city will reuse any form of water, if and when our population and water demand grows, we will pump more water from the Rhein River. Every building will collect, reuse, and sanitize water with their filtration-purification system, in addition to receiving water from the HFCPs. The HFCP and the Electrolysis Plant will be utilized to create energy and clean water in an environmentally friendly way. Our engineers would oversee that the city of Stad Van de Toekomst is efficient and eco-friendly.

Word Count: 386