This I believe: Honesty

This picture shows that no matter how much you lie the truth will always come out.

When I was 9 years old I was telling lies to a friend of mine. I did it so that we would have something to talk about, it was about this game on the Internet and when he actually played for himself he realized I was lying. After my friend realized I was lying he stopped being my friend. He didn’t believe anything I said anymore. That should have taught me that lying that was bad but I continued anyway. I guess I told lies because I was scared of what would happen if I told the truth. One day I was talking to my mom when I accidentally told her about something at school that she didn’t exactly like. I told her the truth and also told her about me lying to my friend. She got really upset about it and then I was pretty sure that I shouldn’t have told her the truth, but then after a while she calmed down and told me that lying was bad and that you should never lie. Telling the truth will always be better even if you get in trouble. She told me that everyone hates liars and that if you lie something bad will happen to you. To prove her point instead of not buying me the toy I wanted for a year she bought it for me. Ever since I have never lied, well that’s a lie but when I do I always end up telling the truth and it is usually better. Especially since people go easier on you if you tell them the truth instead of them finding out themselves, which makes them more angry with you for lying. So that’s how I learned that I should never lie and I guess that that’s what I believe.

The Holocaust

It is right only if your friends and relatives agree to Keep the jews with them and if you know the consequences and risks. The People of Le Chambon saved the jews anyway even though they knew what the risks and consequences were. This is probably because they knew what it was like to be prosecuted since their ancestors were Huguenots and they are protestants. If you just accept things the way they are you cannot improve. You should always take a stand against what you believe is injustice if you are willing to go through with it and stay with it till the end. If you do take a stand the the victim of the injustice will be helped or even saved. The consequences however are terrible. You can go to jail, be prosecuted and killed. Prejudice and bias are usually created when there is already a sense of resentment to the victim but is helped to grow with the help of propaganda's, ignorance and fear. To overcome prejudice and bias you need to stop being ignorant and actually see the victim. Some people are strong at heart and willing to stand up to injustice while some people (Kotler) may be trying to make up for something someone in their family did. A decision will always have consequences but the decision itself decides whether it is a good or bad consequence. The issues raised in the book "The boy in the Striped Pajama" is important because they are still occurring today. We should continue reading and studying "The Boy In Striped Pajama" because it is a challenge and a good read, it also lets us learn about the holocaust and how much it affected the lives of the people there at that time.

The Box

I would call this story The Box because everything revolves around it. I thought that the person who won the lottery would get a prize, then I thought that the winner would have to leave town. The fact that everyone was afraid of the box and that everyone ignored it, let it go to ruin led me to believe that it wasn't going to be something good.

When I realized that the end of the story wasn't there I felt so frustrated and annoyed that I didn't know the ending of the story. I felt like i was going to scream. It made me want to continue reading so much! As soon as I received the paper I knew straight away that it was the ending which made even more frustrated.

I followed the instructions, why? because I forgot all about it. I don't understand why this tradition even started. I felt surprised and a little confused. Why would they do this? My predictions were wrong but I didn't feel anything about it since I was so surprised by the ending of the story. I never thought that this would happen, totally unexpected. I think that if they put in a little more forshadowing and dropping of more hints I think my prediction would have been a lot more accurate.

It made us confused wanting an answer, making us read things and notice things a lot more. It made us tense and confused wanting a release from the confusion. There was no title which created a sense of curiosity. No ending which made me frustrated and desperate for the ending. The forshadowing and clues made us think. The papers added to the tension and the delayed ending made us ask more questions and created an unbelievable amount of curiosity making us even more desperate for the ending.

Power Of The Void

The International school of Kuala Lumpur provides (Silence) an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

I think that adding a silence after the word "provides" makes the listener curious about what the school actually provides. It also makes them ask questions, like "what is it? food? education?". It creates tension that makes you anxious and want to keep listening to what he/she says.It makes them want a release which makes them focus a lot more on what is being said.

Composers can do this in a piece of music by adding a sudden silence just before a climax. This will make the audience ask questions, asking for a release. This makes them more attentive and interested. Another more subtle way to do this is to suddenly take out an element of the music in the middle of a song. This creates tension of another sort. It also makes you ask questions, like "whats going on? did my ipod break? how long is this going to last?"

Compliments

When was the last time you received a compliment? How did it make you feel? When was the last time you complimented someone? How did it make that person feel?

These questions my 7Th grade teacher asked me made realize something, I haven't complimented someone in a long time. I know people were complimenting me about my new haircut (Which personally I don't like) but I couldn't tell if they were sincere or not so I'm really impressed that the guys from the video could say all those things about those people day after day and actually meant it. That's why when the few people who were I thought sincere gave complimented my hair I actually started liking it! And just a few minutes before that I was saying that I hated it! I on the other hand have forgotten when was the last time I complimented someone, not that I don't want to it's just a little awkward to go up to a random person and compliment them you know? But I am pretty sure everyone likes to be complimented so that's why I think that we should start complimenting each other more... as long as your sincere of course.

Quote

“If it is true that the basic quest of man is freedom, the question we must ask is: Is it freedom from or freedom for?”

Rabbi Joseph H


I chose this quote because to me it is true. Everyone wants to be able to do whatever they want (as long as it's not bad) say anything they want and think anything they want to think about. People want to be able to make their own choices but not everyone is given this choice. Some people have been forced to do what the government wants them to do. These people are being oppressed. For example take Aung Sun Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar. There the military tells the people what to say, think and do.

I think that this picture shows what I mean

My Name

My name like (sometimes) me, is weird. I have never been teased about my name before. When I was young I really didn't care that I was called Rizal but when I grew up I started to realize how dull and uncommon my name was... among my school friends of course. But for consolation I have never never been teased about my name. Probably because I have been going to private schools my whole life. But still even if I went to public schools it would be hard to tease me about my name. Why you ask? because for starters name teasing is usually all about rhyming and you have to admit, Rizal you have to admit does not rhyme with anything so I am safe from teasing. Secondly my name has no meaning... that surprised you didn't it? well I'm going to surprise you again, no one in my family comes from the Philippines but have you guessed it yet? My name is from the Philippines!

So I'm safe from teasing right? I should be happy right? Well you're wrong. You may not be able to tease me about my name but you can say it wrong in a THOUSAND different ways! I mean someone even called me Brazil once! And to make matters worse sometimes the wrong way people say my name stick to me and becomes one more nickname to add to my already vast collection/ Another odd thing about my name is that there's another version of it! Rizzy! And no it's not a nickname or anything, it's a real name from the Philippines a REAL name!

But now that I've gotten even OLDER I guess I like my name and the fact that I have so many nicknames makes me unique! So I guess I really do like my name but I still wish there were some more famous people that had the name! But other tan that it's a great name!

Now for the story of how I got my name. My mom was pregnant with me and my dad had just come home from the Philippines or more specifically Manila. He had named me after a guy called Jose Rizal, a polymath Nationalist who was considered Philippines greatest hero. He heard the name while coming home and decided that he would name me Rizal...why? No not because it was a great hero's name but because he liked it.

Well at least my surname has a meaning. Zakaria means remembered by god. Origin: Muslim. It is used in 7 different countries! (no reapeats) I like it because it is so sharp. I have never had any problems with this name, and there aren't that many ways to say it wrong. I will like it no matter how old I get. It's a good name but unlike Rizal, in Malaysia Zakaria is a pretty common name. There's even another way to spell it Zakariah, so it's really easy to get me mixed up with someone else. In elementary my sister (who obviously has the same surname I do) got mixed up with someone else and whenever my mom put money in her swipe card the money always went to someone else. That is of course until my mom had a talk with the front office that is. So I guess what i'm trying to say is that after you get used to them my names are great! (and not that wierd either, and neither am I!)