SS Blog National

Summary-

On Tuesday, January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th United States president. It was a heartfelt moment as Barack, with his wife and his two daughters, solemnly swore to protect the constitution, and made his speech in front of the thousands in attendance and the millions watching at home. In his speech Barack used humility, gratitude, and showed his sacrifice. He did not however show his excitement while being inaugurated, or while giving his speech of humbleness and thankfulness. Once he was sworn in, once the 21 guns had saluted, the military aide in charge of the nuclear football quietly crossed the platform, to stand beside his new Commander in Chief.

Article One-

In this Article, it shows how Obama was not excruciatingly excited, but how he was humble and grateful. This article says that Obama, in his presidency, will take every opportunity to address his concerns and address them with dignity. Obama said, "We are in the midst of crisis is now well understood," he said this to address the fight against terrorism. He addressed this matter on a day so heartfelt, so great for his wife, so great for his kids, and yet for Obama it is a day that he shall take action. It is a day that Obama will speak his mind and to tell America what he wants to do. Obama was brave on a day like this to not celebrate on his day, a day that would be better than his birthday, and yet he was so somber in both his tone and his attitude.

Article Two-

Obama was inaugurated as the forty-fourth president and he is now serving as president. Obama faced a number of challenges trying to get here, but alas, he faces a new challenge; the new era of responsibility. Obama made a remark to his fellow African-Americans, “This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed... why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” This statement is true. This statement is sadly, sadly true. In his speech, Obama made promises and requests that he wants this country to listen to. He wants to keep his promises, and he trusts us to keep our promises as well. Obama trusts us with his life, why shouldn’t we trust him.

My Opinion-

My intake on the Obama inauguration is that he was humble during his speech, he was grateful during his oath of office, and he was willing to address issues that might not have wanted to be addressed at that time. Obama took a risk, no, he took a leap of faith and he wanted the Americans to catch him from hitting the ground…and we did. I think that it is time for change, it was time for change when the Declaration of Independence was written, it was time for change when the Emancipation proclamation was written, it was time for change when Martin Luther King’s speech was spoken, and lastly, it is time for change now.

Work Cited-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7839229.stm#map
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090120/us_time/08599187273800

Class Response 2009 T-2

What we did in class was that we went around the classroom, with a partner of our choice, and we did ten labs that had to do with reflection, refraction, and diffraction. One of my favorite labs was the one where we went into a dark room; we put a Petri dish on top of a flashlight, and filled it with bubble soap. Then, we each took a straw and took turns blowing bubbles and turning on the flashlight creating a rainbow that was bestowed before our very eyes. We later blew a bubble as big as the Petri dish itself and we found the circumference of the bubble. Another one of my favorite labs was the one were we had to turn on the projector which had a light bulb on it. The light bulb was projected onto a white piece of paper, and with a sick, we brandished and the light bulb appeared on the sick. My opinion on doing many labs by ourselves is that it was a brilliant idea. It taught us the subject in a fun and educational way at the same time. Also, it let us socialize with our peers while doing it.

Work Cited-
http://www.olemiss.edu/courses/phys108/Topics/Reflection-N.html
http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/cat_reflectinglight.html

Current Events 2009

Summary-

Andromeda’s little brother, the Milky Way galaxy, has just been found to be pretty big. In fact, the galaxy is estimated to hold up to 3 trillion suns. Therefore, two of the biggest galaxies may smash into each other sooner than expected. To see the galaxy, scientists use the Very Long Baseline Array of ten radio telescopes that can enable astronomers to see through dusty byways. Mark Reid and his 20 colleagues based observations on twenty star formations across the galaxy by methanol masers. Masers need very high temperatures of star forming regions and the astronomers used them when the earth is at opposite sides of its orbit. These measurements were very accurate measurements of the motion across the sky as they orbit the galactic center. From these measurements Reid figured out that the Milky Way spins at a rate of 254 kilometers/second; fifteen % faster than last calculation. Using Newton’s law of gravity, the Milky Way is fifty % heavier; making it almost Andromeda’s weight. Since the increase of the galaxies weight and spin speed is matched with the other galaxy, they will collide much sooner. Most star formation in our galaxy takes place in the Milky Way’s spiral arms, where gas is compressed, triggering the birth of stars. The scientists also learned that the Milky Way had four spiral arms: two dominant ones and two weaker ones. This is a great advantage in our astronomy research. We now for the first time have full three-dimensional information, both location and velocity.

Work cited- http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/39709/title/This_just_in_Milky_Way_as_massive_as_3_trillion_suns