Tom, the piper's son

                                                      Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
                                                    Stole a pig, and away did run!
                                                             The pig was eat,
                                                          And Tom was beat,
                                                        And Tom went crying
                                                             Down the street.
                It had been a hard winter in the forest where Tom and his father were living. The conditions were bad and Tom’s poor father was sick. You see Tom’s father was a piper and they didn’t make enough money to live the upper class lives and have nice homes, so they both lived in a log cabin. The cracks let in a draft and John, the piper, came down with a terrible cold. They didn’t have any food and were getting famished so Tom decided to go on a trip…
                He just made it into the town and he knew that he didn’t have much time so he got the closest and cheapest food that he could get his hands on. It was Farmer Hansel’s fat pig. It would be enough for his father and him to eat for the next month, so he started home again. He carried that fat pork 5 and ½ miles back to the forest.
                Later that night at dinner the pork was marvelous. The way that it tasted against the two males tongues was enough to make a nice and civilized man go insane. Tom was exhausted and so he went to bed early that night leaving his dad in the feather bed and saying a quick, “Good night father.” His stomach was full and all seemed to be well.
                When he woke up in the morning he was going to make bacon for breakfast, and he was excited to surprise his beloved papa with the amazing aroma.  It took him a while to prepare the meal but when it was finally done his went to get his pa from his room. As he entered the room he immediately knew that something was wrong.
                He couldn’t believe it, his father was gone! He had passed away sometime in the middle of the night and now he was gone. Tom didn’t know that his father was that ill, in fact he thought that the pig was helping his dad and that he only had a little sniffle. Tom could not bear to live in the place where his father died so he packed his things and left the little log cabin in the harsh woods. He didn’t know where he was going but he had to leave.
                 It had only been around 30 minutes and all that had happened hit Tom like a brick on the head. He began to cry uncontolably and was very emotional. He finall realized that his father was gone and wouldn't come back. From that moment on he knew that he couldn't ever return to that house in the forest and that he would see the world like one long adventure. Downt the street Tom, the piper's son went, he would never turn back because he was going to see new things and meet new people. Down went Tom, the piper's changed son.

A Ghost Town

                It has been almost half of a century since anybody has lived in Pripyat. “Careful, don’t touch anything with you bare hands, “reported the guide that lead people through this desolate city. On the bottom of a Kindergarten floor there were book shelves and teddy bears that were covered in thick dust. Animals still wander there, but they are not afraid of any human that enters this place. It is a Ghost Town, all due to a nuclear explosion that is still being paid for.

                Doesn’t this remind you of a recent even? That is right; the events of what is happening in Japan are similar to this. It is estimated to cost 118 billion dollars to pay their debts off. Most of the money will have to be paid by Tokyo Electric Power Co. In the previous story they were paying “hundreds of billions of dollars” for almost 20 years. In 2005 it finally went down to 5%.

                In conclusion, these things are still being paid for. They are paying billions and billions of dollars and it is still affecting the world. Just imagine the pain and hurt that you would feel. You lost your home, some family, and even some friends in an explosion and you still pay for it.

An Imposter?

                Was he an imposter? James R. Corliss claims that Joseph Fuoco was on the plane and that he was so close that he could actually shake hands with this guy. It seems like good evidence doesn’t it? Most people would agree that it is good and solid evidence, but when Corliss passed away people began to point fingers all over again. When Corliss’ wife was interviewed she said, “That’s a lot of baloney he couldn’t make up such a thing. I always called him a Boy Scout.” Although she said that she didn’t have and documentary evidence of his participation on the flight so no conclusions could be made.

                I found it striking that even though there were witnesses that Fuoco was there nobody would believe what he said. Even the Author of the book where all of this information occurred said, “You can’t have wrong history going out, it has to be corrected. If this happened to me or my family I would be offended. It says that Corliss was proud and that it is good that he passed away because all of this would just hurt him.

                All in all, my opinion is that this is all just ridiculous. You have a witness that says he was on the plane and that you could touch him, but you still don’t agree? Like Mrs. Corliss said it is all just a bunch of baloney.

A Family of 2,000

                Yitta Schwartz was a member of the Hasidic sect, on average ever couple in this religion have 9 kids. Yitta and her husband had 15 living children and 7 deceased by the time of her death. She left behind around 2,000 descendants. Not only that but it was part of their religion to attend every circumcision, first haircut, bar mitzvahs, engagements, and weddings of her family. Her 6^th oldest daughter currently has 16 children and more than 100 grandchildren. Can you believe that?

                It is striking that they could have this many children by the time of 93. That means that you would have to make bread from 12 pounds of dough. For the first part of Yitta’s life she would not use a Kitchen-aid or Bosch, although finally she did resort to that. If this happened to you would it be relevant? Well, considering that in their religion they believe this to be right and what is supposed to happen. So in this circumstance, it would be relevant.

                I found this article really interesting and I would like to see the normal day in the life of one of these mothers. It does sound really hard to keep up with the responsibilities of the mother of 16 children. In the end, Yitta died at the age of 93, she left behind a family of 2,000. Wouldn’t that make you crazy?

Persecution for Photos?

                The authorities prosecute artist that take pictures with meaning and real personality. When one of the artists, Umida Akhmedove, took a photo of a child on the muddy floor she was taken to court. The complaint stated, “With one glance at these pictures on can see that repair work is being done in these rooms, and that the children entered them purely through the child’s curiosity that is inherent to them, but to foreigners these photographs may give the impression that these children live in these homes.”

                I found it to be interesting that they are actually prosecuting people for this. I compelety disagree with what they are doing. If they really do feel that you can see that children are just wandering around and the houses are still being built then they should have nothing to fear. With them prosecuting people for this is showing that they are scared of something. It also shows a weakness on their side.

                 In conclusion, I do think that is wrong to go after people for their creativity. They are just trying to make a good picture with real feeling. I also think that the other artist should take a stand and do something. This is putting a cap to the creativity and new ideas that people could be bringing to the world. It is not right!

Loo's Olympic Dream

           Alexa Loo was raised by the mountains and every morning she woke up she would feel as if the mountains were beaconing to her. She went to school to become an accountant but she couldn't shake this feeling of wanting to be by the mountains. The first time she went snowboarding she was only 15 years old and then raced at the age of 21. She made it to the Olympics and tore her knee ligament. Her finances were gone and she was left with nothing.
           Meanwhile, the Kin brothers emigrated from China in 1981 and worked unceasingly for many years to learn English and support their lifestyle. Finally, they had the chance to do what they wanted, open a produce stand. It started out at only being 8 feet and the Kin brothers having to eat whatever they didn’t sell. Today it is currently standing 27 stories high.
          When the brothers heard of Loo’s injury they wanted to help her with her finances. They came to the idea of selling special bags for her and then giving the money to her. By doing that Loo felt the support of her own community and finished with a silver medal and an experience of a lifetime.
         It was an amazing thing for the both of the brothers to help Loo and for Loo to achieve her dreams. If everybody could be as charitable as these two our world would be an amazing place. I would love to know what happened to these two groups and if they ever became friends.