Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees mostly abandon their young and flee from enemies, and this I say is dumb, NOT intelligent. It is also why chimps are going extinct. Of course, the average Western animal hugger has abandoned its young in order to pursue his scholarly interests, so the chimp is his hero.  

The average baboon troop is structured very strictly at three levels:

#1 Two to three huge bucks who lead the troop without any sign of competition.  

#2 Younger bucks who submit to the three troop leaders and help protect the ladies and the young.  

#3 Females and babies.

When the imminent danger is sensed, such as an approaching leopard, the three big bucks will raise the alarm. At once, the whole troop submits 100%, and the females grab the babies and young and run to the center of the troop. The younger bucks gather around the females and their young and display attack gestures outward. The two or three big buck leaders move around the perimeter of the troop, back and forth, watching for the leopard. The troop usually does not panic or run away.  

That is why, a smart leopard, though he may consider baboon a delicacy, will not proceed to attack. But, if the leopard foolishly advances, the three big bucks, with several younger bucks following, will charge the leopard, and they will tear the leopard to shreds..... literally. Baboons are much smaller than leopards, but the effect of baboon rage is stupefying to the leopard. Game hunters have reported finding the scene afterward, and all that was left was mouthful sized pieces of leopard in all directions. The baboons tore the leopard to bits using their powerful mouths. Virtually NO other member of the ape family conducts business in this manner.

Baboons will attack human beings in the same manner.  If a person strolls past baboons, they will ignore him. If a person chases baboons away from his garden, they will flee. But, if you wound a baboon while trying to shoot them, don't run forward to see what you got. The troop will always flee from gunfire. But, the big buck leaders will almost always come back to carry off their wounded or dead. If you are standing over the dead baboon you shot when those big bucks return, you could very well be treated as a leopard.  Many a baboon hunter has used this factor and concealed himself nearby so that he could get another shot at the leaders returning for their dead.  If a troop is particularly troublesome to farmers, this is highly merciful to the farmers.  If the troop leaders are all killed, the troop will break up in confusion, and their attacks on gardens will then be easy to control.

Radioactive Heroes

Out of the most memorable images from Eisenstein’s classic silent film on the Russian Revolution is the toppling of a statue. The destruction of the statue symbolizes the throwing out of the old order along with its heroes and replacing it with a new one. Considering this human tendency to ‘ring out the old and ring in the new’ it is surprising that any heroic figures from the past survive in the history books, but they do. There are some heroes who do not get erased from the pages.

One of my personal all-time heroes is Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. At a time when women were not allowed to enter the University of Warsaw, her home city, Marie worked as a governess before getting the opportunity to enroll in the Sorbonne in Paris. She graduated at tid not get the second prize because of rumors of ‘misconduct’ in her private life. But she bravely went to Stockholm, despite opposition, and said that she believed that there was no connection between her private life and her scientific work. She died of cancer caused by exposure to radium, one of the elements that she discovered.

Many great people from the past have had their reputations destroyed by exposure of their human frailties. But some, like Marie Curie, achieve such greatness that they will be remembered for their achievements. She he top of her class and became the first woman to take a degree in physics from the Sorbonne.

But it is not simply for her breaking out of traditional molds that she is remembered. Her scientific work on radiation led to her two Nobel Prizes: the first joint with her husband, the second alone, after Pierre Curie’s death. She nearly dsymbolizes the human quest for knowledge and the capacity to sacrifice self for a higher goal. Women everywhere will gain strength from seeing one woman who could not he suppressed by outdated conventions.

We need to credit our heroes for the inspiration they offer to us and to future generations. Names such as Curie should not, and in fact cannot, be erased form the History books: they tell us so much about the human capacity to strive for excellence.

Eccentricity

Eccentric is defined as being different, odd, non-conventional or strange. However being eccentric isn’t entirely bad, it influences the society and makes the society realise that there is much more to life. There are several well known eccentric in the world today and in the past that give off such an influence.

One of these people is Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. Michael is looked up upon and inspired by hundreds and thousands around the world. He not only delivers messages through song, but also stands proudly for what is right and what he believes in. With his multi-billion dollar fortune, he shocked but captured the world with his concern and charity to the unfortunate, young generation. His love for young children captured the music industry especially, for they never saw something like it before. Unfortunately, there is a horrible downside to Jackson, and that is his several facial and skin adjustments. Since day one when Jackson altered his nose, the media hasn’t left him alone and just got worse, so did Michael. It seemed obvious to realise that Michael had issues, over 15 years he underwent so many changes. His fans began to question what he was doing to himself, some believed that he was over paranoid about his appearance and got carried away. These plastic surgeries scared Michael’s life, because the media never let go and were onto every thing Michael would say or go.

Another artist in the music industry is Marilyn Manson, the dark lurker. He almost fits the definition of eccentric perfectly. Manson’s style is looked upon very weird and differently, he certainly doesn’t appear as an average guy. His style of clothing, make up and appearance. Majority of the society disregard him as a psycho or a degenerate. He formed Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids in 1989 with the express intention of “exploring the limits of censorship’. The original line-up consisted of part-time journalist Manson, Daisy Berkowitz, Olivia Newton-Bundy and Zsa Zsa Speck, later joined by Sara Lee Lucas – all the band members assuming forenames of female icons and surnames of famous murderers. Bundy and Speck were replaced at the end of 1989 by Gidget Gein and Madonna Wayne Gacy, respectively.

In keeping with their controversial image, they were the first band to be signed to Trent Reznor and John A. Malm Jnr.’s Nothing label. Support slots with artists such as Suicidal Tendencies, Meat Beat Manifesto, Murphy’s Law and the Genitorturers brought them considerable local recognition, in the form of the 1993 “Slammy” Awards and sundry other baubles.

In December 1993, bass player Gein was replaced by Twiggy Ramirez. Reznor acted as guest musician and executive producer on the band’s 1994 debut album, with half of the tracks mixed at the house of the infamous Tate murders by the Manson family. In March 1995, Lucas was replaced on drums by Ginger Fish. Berkowitz also departed in June 1996 and was replaced by Zim Zum. Antichrist Superstar included the American hit single “The Beautiful People”, and reached number 3 on the Billboard album charts. By 1998, they had become one of the biggest bands in the USA, assuming virtual cult status, a position aided as much by their notoriety and propensity for upsetting US right-wing and Christian groups as by their music. Mechanical Animals was a huge American chart-topper that also placed the band in the UK Top 10 for the first time.

During the recording of the album, Zim Zum left and was replaced by Johnnie 5. The highly articulate Manson was forced to morally defend himself when, in April 1999, two alleged fans, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, murdered 15 of their classmates at Colombine High School in Denver, Colorado. The band was forced to abort their nationwide tour, although fans were rewarded with the release of a live album. Manson addressed many of the issues raised by the Colombine shootings on the band’s new album. Holly Wood was another impressive collection of articulate and deceptively melodic industrial rock that belied the moral majority’s one-dimensional portrait of Marilyn Manson as a corrupting, atonal degenerate.

Another great example of eccentric people is the Osbourne Family (Ozzy Osbourne’s family). This particular family has their own show which is similar to Big Brother. Every member of this family is very eccentric. They’re appearance is very awkward and un-casual. However, just because they are different to other families, doesn’t mean they aren’t a family. They have their own ways of getting along with each other.

The mental patient characters in the text Cosi relate very much to the definition of eccentric. Every single one of the characters has something odd or weird about them. However the point reaches across again (just like the mentioned above), although they may have their differences from society, doesn’t mean they should be underestimated to perform a specific task or action. This is proven in the play where they rehearse several times for a play, mean while the owner of the institution doesn’t believe they will perform it to satisfaction, but in the end the patients end up pulling it off very well and proved themselves.

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Video Gaming

Ten years ago, when you write ‘gaming’ as your hobby, you would probably be getting blank stares. But nowadays, I dare say that gaming has definitely become one of the top hobbies among teenagers. With more and more games popping up everywhere like Half-Life, Medal of Honour, PS3 etc, one should not be surprised by the amount of people being ‘lured’ as they are able to choose their favorite games from a myriad of sources with different themes. While teenagers think of them as a way to kill boredom, most parents think of these games with a vengeance. Instead of doing useful things like revising the newest chapter taught in school or helping mum cook dinner, they waste their spare time sitting in front of a glowing screen, possibly getting backaches and sore eyes.

But parents, playing games on the computer has its good effects as well as its bad influences. Researchers have discovered that playing these games actually improves the hand-eye coordination of the players, enhances their logical thinking skill and makes them more alert to little details that take a non-player longer time to notice. War strategies found in certain games help them to think more logically, educational games assist in their communication and problem solving skills, alertness and so on. Teachers have also found improvement in mathematics, reading and spelling skills of those students. These students can process visual information thirty percent faster than non-gamers and generally score better in eye tests.

Researchers of University of Rochester have recruited some gaming fanatics and performed two tests. In the first test, an image would appear on a video screen for 1/160th of a second, after which the subjects were asked to locate where they had seen the image on the screen. In another test, twelve images were shown for a fraction of a second and the subjects were asked to assess how many images they had just seen. The gamers had shown a higher accuracy in answering correctly than non-gamers. 
Before the gamers open champagne and celebrate, the bad side of spending too much time on playing games is very real as well. Some of the games are extremely violent in nature, and it has a rather huge negative impact on the young minds. Apart from this, spending too much time on the couch or the bed playing these games will also result in obesity, which in turn leads to other illnesses like diabetes. Other than that and the usual eye strain, wrist and neck pain, playing the game for too long will also result in headaches, hallucinations, muscle and nerve damages. Gaming does help to develop the brain, but instead of developing it uniformly, it only develops the sections related to vision and detecting movements. Specialists have also confirmed that children who spent too much time on those games also have a much higher chance of developing a bad posture and also cause disequilibrium in their daily routine. To cure these problems will not be an easy process as they might have to go through simple relaxation exercises or even undergoing physiotherapy and also hydrotherapy treatment.

Never give up

The struggle you are in today is the strength you need for tomorrow. Don't give up.

This quote simply means what whatever is going on right now in your life will eventually get better and give you all the power you are going to need for the future, so don't ever give up.

If you want to achieve something, don't just sit there and say that isn't going to happen and stop, keep fighting for it. If you want to make a school sports team, practice before the try-out, practice during the summer, if you can't afford a travel team to be in, just practice in your back yard. If you want to be a writer just write and keep practicing your grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

In the world there are many people that to get their freedom didn't quit just because something got hard. For example, J.K Rowling got rejected by 12 publishing companies. How about if she quit? Will I still be here writing about her? If she quit she would be another regular person in the United Kingdom.

This is my own story, I play football and I din't try out in 8th grade because I thought since I have scoliosis I couldn't play. In 9th grade I tried out for the high school team and I didn't make it. I was about to quit and not play anymore again. Until my friends said they were going to try out but they never did, I still did and I made the team. Also, over the summer I went to open gyms every once a week and stayed in shape. Throughout the season I also improved a lot. I learned my position, I'm more confident, and more aggressive. I'm even planning to get even better to be in varsity.

People will also say things that will make you want to quit. Like:

"your not good enough"
"this is not for you"

But when people say that make them think the opposite and strive for your best. Have you ever given up on anything or wanted to give up on something but didn't?

SAT Tips

When it comes to SAT preparation there are so many factors that go into the actual process that you may overlook those that don’t seem as beneficial. Here are 3 important tips, that you may have ignored, to help you on your SAT journey.

#1 PREPARE YOUR BODY
Sometimes you get so focused on studying for a big test you can’t even think about taking breaks, let alone taking the time to go for a run or walk. But, that’s exactly what you should do. Getting outside and exercising your body is one of the best things you can do for your mind, especially when studying. It clears the mind, provides us with new energy and focus, and even increases our memory retention. So lace up the tennis-shoes and head outdoors for some much needed exercise. Your mind will thank you later.

#2 READ. READ. READ
Vocabulary is directly tested on the SAT. That means those of you who love reading and go through book after book will have a much easier time with this section. So while preparing for the SAT, pick up a novel or two or three or four, and look up any word you don’t recognize or know the meaning of. Heck, why not pick a page out of the dictionary to go over every week.

#3 EVERY SECOND COUNTS
There might be a question on the SAT that throws you for a loop or stumps you up. Don’t’ spend too much time on that one problem, skip it and move on. It’s better to spend around the same time on each question versus spending a lot on one difficult question and then having to work faster on the others. If there is time left over, that’s when you revisit the question(s) that gave you a hard time.

Stupidity

From the point of a frustrated and confused member of the social order, it appears to me that we are living in a society where stupidity easily fits into a simple, three tier, hierarchical model. Where Darwin argued that species adapt, I would argue that--at least where "civilized" culture is concerned--humanity's intellectual evolution is rapidly decreasing, therefore allowing us as a whole to adapt to a culture where the art of thinking is becoming obsolete. This author submits to you that, due to technology and volumes of procedure protocol having been written for every job imaginable, people have lost their ability to reason intellectually and have essentially "dumbed down." This, my friends, is the curious but sad truth of the matter. Therefore, I believe that stupidity can be reasonably fitted into the following three tier, hierarchical model.

First or Lower Level: Stupid People Who Know They Are Stupid.

Second Level: People Who Are Stupid But Don't Know They Are Stupid.

Third or highest level of stupidity: People Who Know They Are Stupid, and Are Afraid Others Will Find Out.

Take the first level for example--stupid people who know they are stupid. These people are benign to the rest of us. When faced with something that is beyond their capabilities, they simply admit and own their stupidity by stating something like, "I don't know" or "I have no idea." These people are notthe people whom you see on the 6 o'clock news; they are just not newsworthy. Folks in this category have nothing to do with melting down the local nuclear reactor, "removing" some poor guy's uterus in a surgery gone awry, or with disciplining their kid by holding him by one leg off a 3 story balcony. Quite simply: they know their limitations.

However, folks fitting into the second tier category--people who are stupid but don't know they are stupid--pose grave problems for the rest of us. These are folks who, at the very least, are a serious frustration, or in some cases, can be downright dangerous! Take the button-dependent, fast-food employee; they can present a serious frustration. Unless there is a button for what the customer is ordering, these people are lost. They will tend to react in one of two ways toward a creatively thinking customer.

The first reaction is called the "no button dilemma" reaction. This occurs when the customer orders something that has not been conceived of by the wise and all-powerful button designers; thus, there is no button on the cash register to fulfill the request. The employee will first look at the customer as if the customer has asked him/her to explain Einstein's quantum theory of light. This will be followed with a deer-in-the-headlight type gaze. The employee will then peer down at the register in disbelief for 2 or 3 seconds, after which, the deer-in-the-headlight stare will occur a second time. Immediately following this second troubled deer look, the employee will look nervously to the right, and then to the left, finally stating, "I'll have to get a manager." All the while, you wait.

The second reaction more truly defines stupidity that is out of the stupid individual's own conscious awareness. This is the girl that works at the ice-cream establishment where you order extra hot-fudge on your hot-fudge sundae. When you make this request, she attempts to problem solve by explaining to you--the misguided customer--the law of the land. She replies, "I'm sorry sir, it's only available inone temperature." Brilliant!

Needless to say, fast-food is not necessarily a life or death scenario (though some would argue otherwise). However, you can see that if folks belonging to this second tier were to work in a medical field, in the military, or operate heavy equipment, they could be dangerous! Beware!

As for the top tier of the stupidity hierarchy--people who know they are stupid and are afraid others will find out--look out! All I can say is stay away from these people at all cost. Folks belonging in this category are the most dangerous individuals of all. Here, these people will attempt things they have no business attempting, and when things blow up, or people get fired, or the fliers for Black History month get wrongly shipped to the KKK's national headquarters, they blame YOU! And that my friends, is a problem.

So there you have it: The Three Tier Model of Stupidity. If I were a betting man, I'd say that you are probably thinking of someone right now whom you could fit into one of the tiers of this model! Apply this knowledge responsibly, and above all, know your limitations!