The Japanese Disaster

                Hey bloggers! This is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! Unfortunately, there are often chapters in the pages of history which are affected negatively by horrible disasters brought upon the brutal forces of nature. In the past 3 weeks, the nation of Japan was confronted with one of the worst disasters man has ever seen.  What makes the events in Japan even more devastating is that no one, but a triumvirate of happenings has shaken Japan to its core; a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a terrible tsunami, and finally a nuclear disaster resembling that of Chernobyl in 1986.

                It all started midday of March 11 2011, a date all Japanese will remember for the years to come. Even though this seemed to be a typical day at work, at 2:46pm local, Japan experienced a 9.0 earthquake whose epicenter was in the ocean a couple of miles north of Japan. Although  it was the biggest Earthquake ever recorded in Japan, this event itself did not cause as many problems, due to the rigorous building codes implemented in Japan. But, since this massive earthquake had an epicenter in the ocean, the most terrifying natural disaster was created in a matter of minutes; a tsunami. This 100 foot high wave rushed towards Japan, and trashed the northern coast (especially a city called Sendai). To make matters worse, the tsunami sabotaged the systems at one of Japans main nuclear power plants, causing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

                It is clear that this chain reaction of events would destroy the moral and structure of most of the nations around the world. Even though thousands are dead and millions are homeless, the high moral and order held by the Japanese society is truly admirable. It is our duty to help the poor Japanese, by donating to the Red Cross and other organizations with the ability to help.

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The Incredible Arab Unrest

                

                Hey bloggers! This is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! Currently, a set of uprisings in the Arab world have been front-page news for almost 2 months now. This incredible chain of protest started in the small country of Tunisia, were a fruit seller violently burned himself to death in order to spread awareness about the oppression in this country. This, seemingly unimportant man, ignited a revolution in Tunisia that overthrew its extremely corrupt dictator. Setting Tunisia as an example, the people of Egypt decided to overthrow their dictator, Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for 31 years. For about 2 weeks and a half, this leader struggled to gain control of his people. However, after a series of very violent riots, this person had no other option but to leave in order to keep Egypt at peace. The third country to be influenced by the wave of protests which has struck the Arabs is Libya. Once again, the people of Libya were demanding that their president, Muammar Gadhafi (who has 41 years in power), step down and allow others to take his place. Unfortunately, what started as peaceful protest has become a civil war, thanks to the morally wrong way with which Gadhafi had been dealing with the riots.

                The sick minded dictator, Muammar Gadhafi, decided that the only way to abolish these revolts once and for all was to ask his police to go to the streets to beat up or shoot any rebel rebelling. In addition, he demanded that his fighter jets take to the sky and bombard the protest when they were taking place. For obvious reasons, neither the Libyans nor NATO has been happy with the way that Gadhafi dealt with the situation. In order to overthrow the dictator, some Libyans formed an army and set out to conquer Libya by defeating Gadhafi’s forces. On the other hand, NATO has also decided to do their part, and all the major powers have come together and bombarded Gadhafi’s military. These nations include USA, France, England and Italy.  As seen, Muammar Gadhafi chances of remaining as Libya’s leader are becoming bleaker by the minute, yet he is still holding on to power somehow. Hopefully this ordeal will be over soon, and the Libyan people will not have to suffer anymore under the hands of the murderer Gadhafi.

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Russian Revolution

                Hey bloggers! This is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! When one looks at any history book, there is no doubt that the 20^th century was among the most important (if not the most ) c century mankind has ever been through.  In short span of one hundred years, humans faced more challenges, cultural and technological changes than in any other century. Among the most fascinating, influential and important events that occurred during this amazing century was the Russian Revolution. During this political experiment, communism was a put to the test in the vast country of Russia, and unfortunately failed miserably.

                The Bolshevik party, which imposed communism in the great Mother Russia, was led by a group of men who firmly believed in Marxist ideals. Among these men are Lenin, Trotsky and the infamous Joseph Stalin. Led at first by Lenin, these individuals believed that all Russians should be equal, and that the group regarded as aristocrats should be eliminated. However, when Lenin was in power, they also believed that their leaders should be democratically elected, and that a private sector should be allowed in order for the economy of the new USSR to thrive. Under the leadership of Lenin, the Bolsheviks truly believed that communism would make Mother Russia a better place for all. Unfortunately, after Lenin died, the master of manipulation Stalin became the new leader of the USSR. Contrary to Lenin, personal gain was a priority over the good of the Soviet people. He implemented totalitarianism, which means that everything belonged to the government. He prohibited people from voting the public officials, and brutally murdered anybody who opposed him. To make matters worse, he used propaganda to such an extent, that the people of Russia adored him; even though he was the cause of 20 million people genocide (he beat Hitler by 14 million people).

                As seen, the 20^th century was fascinating, because even though technology was advancing at an incredible pace, it seemed that Human Nature was going back to its savage roots. The USSR was a great social experiment, which gave a reality check to the world. Even though the Bolshevik’s such as Lenin dreamed of an equal world, utopia is simply not an option in the real world. It is, unfortunately, the way the cookie crumbles.

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Scuba Diving... It's AWESOME!!

                Hey bloggers! This is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! Recently, I was submerged (quite literally!) into a new world that I never had the chance to explore before. These past few weeks, my brother and I have been working hard in order to be accepted in the incredible world of scuba diving! Without a doubt, these times have been among the most enjoyable of my life, mainly due to this new experience that I have had the wonderful opportunity to explore. However, very surprisingly, I have had to study very hard in order to pass the tests imposed by PADI (the world’s recreational diving association) to be accepted in their prestigious organization.

                During my carnival holidays, I went to the beach, where I first had contact with the amazing world (and heavy gear!) of scuba diving. I immediately fell in love with the activity, and wished to become a certified diver. Once the holidays were over, I enrolled myself in a PADI certified course, so that I could have my license in no time. When I first went to class, I thought I only had to learn how to use the gear and I was free to go and scuba dive at my will. How wrong I was! Not only did I have to learn about the gear, but also just about everything that happens underwater. This includes the way water affects color, sound, floatability, and our own human body. Furthermore, I had to study for what seemed hours on end in order to pass a few quizzes imposed by the instructor. It has been very hard work.

                However until now, it has been worth every penny! Last week I went scuba diving for the first time, and it was an experience I will remember throughout my life! I consider myself a very fortunate individual to have the privilege of being a qualified diver.

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The Great Jhonattan Vegas

Hey bloggers! This is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! Well, as many of you already know, the past two weeks have been of great importance for my home country (Venezuela) when it comes to Golf. As a passionate golfer, these few weeks have been among the most important and thrilling of my golfing career, since for the first in the Venezuelan history a local won a PGA tour open, more specifically the “Bob Hope Classic.” In addition, this rookie tied 3^rd place in the world famous “Farmers Insurance Open,” where he played against the worlds’ top players. These include Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods. This is, without a doubt, an enormous achievement for this young golfer.

The accomplisher of this incredible goal is the humble Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas. Born and raised poor in an eastern Venezuelan city named Maturin, this individual showed great interest in Golf from a young age. His father, being a caddy, taught him how to swing a golf club with nothing more than a broom and a rock. Yet, despite the odds, Vegas showed great talent in this game and soon he was playing daily in the 9 hole golf course in the outskirts of Maturin. Soon, he started playing and winning tournaments, demonstrating to others his great talent. Finally, after training constantly with famous Venezuelan instructors, this talented golfer won a scholarship to study in the University of Texas. Here, he trained harder, until he won his first PGA tour championship last week.

The story of Jhonattan Vegas is truly inspiring, since he rose from being a humble child living in humbly in the Venezuelan country side, to a world class golfer, who won 1, 294,591 dollars in just two weeks. In addition, he has become living history by being the first Venezuelan golfer to ever win on the PGA tour, and that is something no amount of money can buy. He has proven that with practice, dedication and perseverance, you can achieve any goal in life.

Congratulations to Jhonattan Vegas on that incredible achievement!

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Walk Like an Egyptian

Hey bloggers, this is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! A very popular topic that is currently circulating the Worlds media is that of the massive protest in Egypt. After 30 years in the presidency, the Egyptian people are demanding that the current president, Hosni Mubarak, leave the presidency in order for a new candidate to lead their country.  Yet, he is refusing to let go and, as a matter a fact, he is making matters worse by prohibiting internet and mobile network access throughout the country of Egypt. Also, riot control police have been dispatched to, through the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons, control the massive riots.

In my personal opinion, the people of Egypt are setting an example for other countries, such as Venezuela, which are currently undergoing prolonged presidencies. Egyptians have gathered the courage to stand up against a force that’s has suppressed their rights for 30 years, and the international community should support and applaud this brave act.

In this blog post, I am going to try and encourage everybody who reads this to “walk like an Egyptian.” In other words, what I am trying to say is to speak your mind without fear of any greater force if you believe it is for a greater good, since this will usually bring great deeds upon everybody who surrounds you.  This is the reason why, it is incredible that the Egyptian people have risen from chaos in order to bring greater good; there truly is hope for the human race!

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Buddhism

Hey bloggers, this is your friendly neighborhood N.A.B.B tuning in! In my ancient civilizations class, my mind was exposed to a completely different culture than my own, that of Buddhism. Since I was born and raised a catholic, I find it fascinating how different our two cultures seem to be. In addition, it is incredible how deep and spiritually Buddhism is, yet they defy almost every rule of Christianity.

Buddhism originated from the teachings of an individual called Buddha. It is a common misconception to think he is the Buddhist deity, since the religion is named after him. However, this is completely false, since the Buddha himself said that no Gods exist. Moving on, Buddhist belief is that life is a cycle, and that every time you die you are reincarnated. This cycle is called Samsara. The ultimate goal in any Buddhist life is to reach the Nirvana state of mind. The individuals who accomplish this break free from Samsara and are no longer reincarnated; instead their soul is reunited with the universal soul.

 The people who follow this believe in the 4 Noble Truths:

1.       Life is suffering.

2.       This suffering is caused by ignorant desire.

3.       This suffering can be eliminated from one’s life.

4.       The way to end this suffering is to go through life with high morals and values (The Eightfold Path).

As seen, this life style differs greatly from our more familiar Western culture. Buddhist believes that the cycle of life is circular, that one reincarnates every time you die. However (since for them to live is to suffer) their ultimate goal is to break free from this cycle and reunite themselves with the universal soul. Finally, the only way to achieve this is to follow the “Eightfold Path,” and life full of respect and high morals.

It is clear that there are many differences and similarities between these two religions, and my ancient civilizations class has opened me towards this religion.

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