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On Friday, June 4, 2010 0 comments

Blue's Clues

Blue's Clues was an children's television show airing on the Nickelodeon family of channels. The show premiered on September 8, 1996 and continues to air today, although production of new episodes ceased by 2006. Versions of the show have been produced in other countries. It was created by a "green team" of producers, Todd Kessler, Angela Santomero, and Traci Paige Johnson, who used concepts learned from child development and early-childhood education research to create a television show that would capture preschool children's attention and help them learn. They used the narrative format in their presentation of material, as opposed to the more traditional magazine format, and structured every episode the same way.

The result, Blue's Clues, has been called "one of the most successful, critically acclaimed, and ground-breaking preschool television series of all time". Author Malcolm Galdwell called the show "perhaps the 'stickiest'—meaning the most irresistible and involving—television show ever". Its innovative use of research, technology, and interactive content has influenced its genre since its debut, including the "gold standard of preschool TV programs" that inspired it, Sesame Street. It became the highest-rated show for preschoolers on commercial television, and received nine Emmy awards. Its efficiency in teaching children using the medium of television has been documented in research studies.

In 1993, Nickelodeon assigned a team of its own producers to create a new television program in the US for young children, using research on early childhood education and the viewing habits of preschoolers. Their goal was to invent a children's television program that would "empower preschoolers to learn through active participation in activities that are grounded in their everyday lives, to redefine the approach to problem-solving for preschoolers in an engaging manner. The producers, Todd Kessler, Angela Santomero and Traci Paige Johnson (whom Brown Johnson, executive creative director at Nickelodeon, called a "green creative team"), were influenced by Sesame Street but wanted to utilize research performed during the 30 years since it debuted. "We wanted to learn from Sesame Street and take it one step further," Angela Santomero said.

The production of Blue's Clues was based upon research that showed that television could be a "powerful educational agent" because for most American children, it was an accessible medium and a "powerful cultural artifact". Since television programs tell stories through pictures, the potential for episodic learning was high. Television, using film techniques, was able to present information from multiple perspectives, in a variety of "real world" contexts, and that television could be an effective method of scientific education for young children. The creators wanted to provide their viewers with more "authentic learning opportunities" by placing problem-solving tasks in the context of storytelling techniques, by slowly increasing the difficulty of these tasks, and by inviting their direct involvement.

The show's creators encouraged participation with their use of repetition. At first, Nickelodeon aired the same episode daily for five days before showing the next one. In field tests, the attention and comprehension of young viewers increased with each repeated viewing. Repetition was built into the structure of each episode; for example, "in an episode called 'Blue's Predictions,' the show's human host, Joe, says some variation of the word 'predict' around 15 times."

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Beavis and Butt-Head

Beavis and Butt-head is an animated televison series created by Mike Judge. Judge's short film"Frog Baseball", starring the characters Beavis and Butt-head was featured on Liquid Television, a show featuring short animated and live action material that could be considered the precursor to Cartoon Networks's Adult Swim. MTV signed Judge to create the series, and it aired from March 8, 1993, to November 28, 1997. The series has retained a cult following. It is rated TV-14 when reruns are aired in the United States.

The show centers on two socially inept rock-loving teenage boys, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who live in the fictional town of Highland. They attend high school, where their teachers are often at a loss as to how to deal with them, although in many episodes, the two skip school. They occasionally work part-time at Burger World, and sometimes other side-jobs when people mistake their odd behavior as outgoing and assertive. Comedy is derived from their utter lack of conventional values such as work ethic. They are extremely obnoxious, misogynistic, and rude to almost every other character in the show and even to each other. They do not seem to realize this, however and seem to function on an instinctual level. They survive their often hazardous misadventures without serious consequences, though others around them don't fare as well.

Mixed within each episode are segments in which Beavis and Butt-head watch music videos and provide humorous and bizarre commentary, improvised by Judge.

In 1996, the series was made into an animated feature film, Beavis and Butt-Head do America.

The two characters' lives revolve around TV, nachos, heavy metal, and their utterly fruitless efforts in trying to "score with chicks", making money, and other stuff that's "cool". Since their parents are never to be seen, it is implied they were "raised" by the TV.

Beavis typically wears a blue Metallic T-shirt (in an earlier episode "Blood Drive", a Slayer T-shirt), while Butt-head is usually seen wearing a gray AC/DC T-shirt. (On some merchandising items, their shirts were either blank or read "Skull" and "Death Rock" due to copyright issues). They live in "Highland" which is said to represent Richardson, TX. Also, their High School "Highland High" is said to represent Lake Highlands High School, which is also in Richardson,TX.

Their family names are never mentioned on the show individually, but in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Butt-head comments that his first name is Butt and his surname is Head. Though the parents of the two are never seen in the series, Butt-head regularly uses "your mama joke" to belittle Beavis, and other references to family members, including uncles and grandparents, are made by both. The film features a scene where they meet two middle-aged adult males who bear a strong resemblance to the duo, and it is implied they are most likely their fathers when the two men say they scored with "two sluts from Highland". The larger man insists he was the only one to "score" with "both of 'em!" They are also known for the names they insult each other with including: Asswipe, Buttmunch (sometimes Assmunch), Buttdumpling, Dillhole, Bunghole, Chode-smoker, and many others. They are also said to be perverted because they frequently point out sexual things in what people say unintentionally. These responses include: you said "nuts", you said "load", etc.

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Ahmed Deedat

July 1, 1918 – August 8, 2005

was a Muslim apologist, scholar, writer, charismatic public speaker
and Islamic missionary of Indian-South African descent.He was best
known for his numerous inter-religious public debates with evangelical
Christians, as well as pioneering video lectures most of which
centered around Islam, Christianity and the Bible. He also established
the IPCI, an internationally renown Islamic missionary organization
under whose auspices Deedat wrote and mass produced several booklets
on Islam and Christianity.

Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

he was an Islamic Missionary

In 1984, he challenged John Paul II to a public dialogue in the
Vatican Square, but the Pope responded that he only agreed to a closed
conference in his cabin. However, Deedat wrote back that he insisted
"that such meeting should be public,". When the Pope stopped
answering, Deedat distributed a pamphlet in January 1985 headlined His
Holiness Plays Hide and Seek With Muslims


he was know for his great Debates, and books such as, Is the Bible God's Word?

He did not have any particular accomplishments but debates have been
very controversial. He pt Islam on the map for the western
civilization. He challenged anyone to rove Islam is wrong. He eve
challenged john Paul 2 who did not want to challenge him publicly. He
also converded lots of non-Muslims to Islam.

He was a great man. He helped knowledge people about Islam and the
beliefs of it. We also challenged people a disagree with him. He went
around the world to help people. He is one who devoted his life to
something he believed in and not money because money means nothing to
god. Hats why he is so significant.

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O.J. Simpson Murder Case

The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in the LA, California Superior Court in which former American football star and actor O.J. Simpson was charged with the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend. The case has been described as the most publicized criminal trail in American history. Simpson was acquitted after a lengthy trial that lasted over nine months—the longest jury trial in California history. Simpson hired a high-profile defense team initially led by RObert Shaprino and subsequently led by F. Lee Bailey and Johnnie Cochran. LA county DNA evidence including that the blood-sample evidence had allegedly been mishandled by lab scientists and technicians - and about the circumstances surrounding other exhibits. Cochran and the defense team also alleged other misconduct by the LA Police Department. Simpson's celebrity and the lengthy trial riveted national attention on the so-called "Trial of the Century". By the end of the criminal trial, national surveys showed dramatic differences between most blacks and most whites in terms of their assessment of Simpson's guilt.

At 12:05 a.m. on June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found fatally stabbed outside Brown's condo in the Brentwood area of LA. Her two children, Sydney (aged 8) and Justin (aged 5), were asleep inside in an upstairs bedroom. O. J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson had divorced two years earlier. Evidence found and collected at the scene led police to suspect that O. J. Simpson was the murderer. Nicole had been stabbed multiple times through the throat to the point of near decapitation; her vertebrae were almost severed, and she also had a swollen face.

Simpson was suppose to turn himself in to the Police Department, but he never showed up. On June 17, 1994, over one thousand reporters waited for Simpson at the police station. The police tracked calls placed on the cellular telephone from Simpson's van in Orange County A sheriff's patrol car saw a white Ford belonging to Simpson's friend, Al Cowlings, going north on Interstate 45. When the officer approached the Bronco, Cowlings, who was driving, yelled that Simpson had a gun to his own head. The officer backed off but followed the vehicle with Simpson in a slow-speed chase at 35 miles per hour. Thousands of spectators and on-lookers packed overpasses along the procession's journey waiting for the white Bronco. Some had signs urging Simpson to flee and others were caught up in a festival-like atmosphere. Over twenty helicopters were following this chase. It was televised by local as well as national news outlets, with 95 million viewers tuning in. The chase ended at 8 P.M. at Simpson's Brentwood home, 50 miles later. He was allowed to go inside for about an hour. His attorney Robert Shapiro arrived and a few minutes later, Simpson surrendered himself to authorities.

Simpson pleaded not guilty to both murders. It was apparent he committed the crime. One dark leather glove was found at the crime scene, with its match found near Kato Kaelin's guest house behind Simpson's Rockingham Drive estate. Kaelin testified that he had heard "bumps in the night" in the same area around the guest house the night of the murder. Brown had bought Simpson two pairs of this type of glove in 1990. Both gloves, according to the prosecution, contained DNA evidence from Simpson, Brown and Goldman, with the glove at Simpson's house also containing a long strand of blonde hair similar to Brown's. Prosecutors contended that the presence of O. J. Simpson's blood at the crime scene was the result of blood dripping from cuts on the middle finger of his left hand. Police noted his wounds on June 13, 1994, and asserted that these were suffered during the fatal attack on Ronald Goldman. However, the defense noted that none of the gloves found had any cuts. They also alleged that Fuhrman had planted the glove at Simpson's house and that the analysis finding that the hair could be Brown's could not be reliable. The prosecution contended that this was not the case, pointing out that by the time Fuhrman had arrived at the Bundy home, the crime scene had already been combed over by several officers for almost two hours, and none had noticed a second glove at the scene.

At 10:07 a.m. on October 3, 1995, after only four hours of deliberation the previous day, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. KHAOS IN THE STREETS!

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May 26, 1928
Pontiac, Michigan

He is best-known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right
to die via physician-assisted suicide

Kevorkian was born in Pontiac, Michigan, to Armenian parents.
Kevorkian graduated from Pontiac Central High School with honors in
1945, at the age of 17. In 1952, he graduated from the University of
Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.[8][9] In the 1980s, Kevorkian
wrote a series of articles for the German journal Medicine and Law
that laid out his thinking on the ethics of euthanasia.

He is a doctor

as a doctor he aided patations to commit suicide.

He helped kill over 130 people.

He helped kill over 130 people was a accomplishment for him though I
don't know if I would agree. I also don't disagree with it but death
is death. The people who are dead because of him died because they all
were diagnosed with some very delay problems. That makes him sound
like a good person because he helped put theme out of there missoury,
but I mean he was a doctor and doctors should lie and make the pationt
happy. So that why I don't know what side I'm on.

This person helped kill 130 people. This guy was the guy that would
help you die when you wanted to. I mean knowing that there are 24 hour
services that help you with suicide and stuff ad then this doctor who
shouldn't be telling his patients that there going to die. The fact
that knowing that this guy could help you kill your mom/dad/son Is
scary. I think that's why people were so scared of him and his
practices.

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The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by the
General Motors Corporation from 1996 to 1999. It was the first
mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era
from a major automaker, and the first GM car designed to be an
electric vehicle from the outset. The decision to mass-produce an
electric car came after GM received a favorable reception for its 1990
Impact electric concept car, The majority of the repossessed EV1s were
crushed, and the rest delivered to museums and educational institutes
with their electricpowertrains deactivated, under the agreement that
the cars were not to be reactivated and driven on the road.The EV1's
discontinuation remains controversial, with electric car enthusiasts,
environmental interest groups and former EV1 lessees accusing GM of
self-sabotagingits electric car program to avoid potential losses in
spare parts sales, while also blaming the oil industry for conspiring
to keep electric cars off the road.

In the aftermath of the program, reactions to the cancellation of the
EV1 continued to be mixed. In GM's view, the EV1 was not a failure,
but the program was doomed when the expected breakthroughs in battery
technology did not take place within the anticipated timeline, citing
the lack of availability of the NiMH-technology battery packs,
developed by Energy Conversion Devices of Michigan, until late in the
production cycle. The batteries improved the EV1's range, but not as
dramatically as expected, and came with their own set of problems; a
less-efficient charging algorithm had to be used (lengthening charge
times), and the batteries heated up more quickly than the lead-acid
packs (requiring use of the air conditioner to cool them down, wasting
power). The automaker also cited the elimination of the CARB
zero-emissions mandate as a factor in the program's cancellation,
though the company was widely accused of lobbying against the mandate
in an act of deliberate self-sabotage. The media perspective was far
less favorable; in 2006, the Wall Street Journal's Detroit Bureau
Chief Joe White said, "The EV1 was a failure, as were other electric
vehicles launched in the 1990s to placate California clean-air
regulators. This opinion as echoed by Time magazine, who in 2008
placed the EV1 on their list of "The 50 Worst Cars of All Time".

many of the fans were pissed and fought to keep there car. People say
that GM cut a deal with the big gas corporations and thats the reason
why they stopped the car others say its because of the battery, either
way GM took it off the market and that crushed the hearts of the loyal
customers.

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The Client begins with eleven-year old boy, Mark Sway and his younger brother Ricky, who is eight, going into the woods near the Tucker Wheel Estates, a mobile home park where they live with their mother, Dianne. Ricky had earlier caught Mark with some cigarettes and now to keep Ricky's silence, Mark is going to teach Ricky how to smoke. While they are in the woods, a big black 4-door Cadillac (a black 93 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in the film) arrives, and soon W. Jerome "Romey" Clifford, a 44-year old lawyer from New Orleans, Louisiana, gets out of the car. His only client at the moment is Barry "The Blade" Muldanno, and now here in the woods of northeast Memphis, Tennessee, he is attempting to commit suicide. Mark and Ricky Sway sit hidden from Clifford and watching him from behind the shiny black car. Clifford, noticeably drunk, puts one end of a garden hose in the exhaust pipe of the car and the other end into a rear passenger window, and rolls up the window, trying to kill himself with carbon monoxide poisoning. Mark, sneaks up, crawling on his stomach, and pulls the hose from the exhaust trying to stop him. After some time Clifford gets out of the car, cursing, and puts the hose back in. Mark repeats pulling the hose from the tailpipe. On the third attempt, Clifford sees the grass moving in the rear view mirror, leaps from the car grabs Mark and pushes him into the car. Jerome then tells Mark why he wants to kill himself, he is convinced that Muldanno is going to murder him anyway and wants to die on his own terms. Clifford is defending Muldanno for the murder of U.S. Senator Boyd Boyette. But the prosecutors, led by the "Reverend" (for his preaching style in court) Roy Foltrigg, don't have a body. Muldanno had previously told Clifford that the he buried the body in concrete in Clifford's detached garage, under a boat, while Clifford was on vacation, skiing in Colorado. In the car, Clifford keeps drinking Jack Daniels, and taking dalmane and codeine. After a while, the effects of the booze and pills start to make Clifford pass out and Mark manages to escape. After Clifford realizes this and attempts to go after Mark, he looks around but soon gives up and slides up on the trunk of the car, puts a .38 Special caliber pistol in his mouth, and shoots himself.

Upon witnessing the suicide, Ricky, Mark's younger brother, goes into shock. Mark calls the police and is later found at the scene. Police and the FBI discover that Mark was in the car and may have spoken with Jerome Clifford. Clifford knew where the body was buried and the FBI needs this information. The FBI is now after Mark because they believe he knows where the body is. Mark hires a lawyer named Reggie Love (a woman, despite the name) to help him. Barry Blade's people burn Mark's house. Mark is reluctant to tell the FBI what he knows because the Mafia has threatened him that if he tells anyone, they will kill him and his family.

Mark is placed in juvenile lock-up (partly to protect him, partly to make him talk) but escapes and runs away to New Orleans and decides to look for the body with Reggie. If the body is not where he knows it should be, he will no longer be in danger of being killed by the Mafia. He decides to travel to New Orleans to search for it. It's very early in the morning when they arrive and while approaching the area of the corpse, the boy and his lawyer observe some Mafia henchmen trying to relocate the body. The henchmen see Mark trying to escape from the boathouse where the body is buried. After a struggle, Mark is able to retrieve a gun that the men were carrying. One of the henchman is trying to convince Mark to shoot him, but Reggie is able to convince him that if he does shoot, he would be just like the henchmen. Mark gives Reggie the gun, which makes the henchman laugh saying, "You should've never taken the gun, you'll never have the guts to shoot." To which she replies, "Wanna bet?" and shoots the neighbor's alarm. The neighbor then comes out with a shotgun and the henchmen run away. Mark and Reggie hide in the woods until they are sure the neighbor is back asleep. They then re-approach the corpse and run away when they see the decaying face of Senator Boyette. Reggie later tells the FBI where the body is, but only after Mark and his family are entered into the United States Federal Witness Protection Program. The Sway family retreats to a revered hospital in Phoenix to tend to Ricky's severe condition and Mark never sees Reggie again.

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Angela's Ashes

5 September 1996

Born in Brooklyn New York on 19 August 1930, Frank McCourt was the eldest son of Malachy and Angela McCourt. Frank McCourt lived in New York with his parents and four younger siblings: Malachy, born in 1931; twins Oliver and Eugene, born in 1932; and a younger sister, Margaret, who died just a few weeks after birth, in 1935. Following this first tragedy, his family moved back to Ireland, where the twin brothers died within a year of the family's arrival and where Frank's youngest brothers, Michael (b. 1936) and Alphie (b. 1940), were born.

Life in Ireland, specifically life in Limerick City, during the 1930s and 1940s is described in all its grittiness. The family lived in a dilapidated, unpaved lane of houses that regularly flooded and where they shared one outdoor toilet with all their neighbors. Although his father taught the children Irish stories and songs, he was an alcoholic and seldom found work. When he did find work, he spent his pay in the pubs. His family was forced to live on the dole since he could not hold down a paying job for very long due to his alcoholism. The father would often pick up and spend the welfare payment before Angela could get her hands on it. For years the family subsisted on little more than bread and tea. They lived in fear of eternal damnation for not praying or doing devotions as often as prescribed by Roman Catholic Church authorities. Despite all the hardships, many passages of the story are told with wry humor and charm.

Frank's father eventually found a job at a defence plant in Coventry, England, yet he sent money back to his struggling family in Ireland only once. As there were few jobs for women at the time, their mother was forced to ask for help from the Church and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Sometimes, Frank and his brothers scavenged for lumps of coal or peat turf for fuel or stole bread in order to survive. Angela's mother (a widow) and sister refused to help because they disapproved of her husband, mostly because he was from Northern Ireland.

In the damp, cold climate of Ireland, each child had only one set of ragged clothes, patched shoes, and lacked a coat. Frank developed typhoid and was hospitalized. Later, he got a job helping a neighbor who had leg problems; he delivered coal for the neighbor and as a result developed chronic conjunctivitis. The family was finally evicted after they took a hatchet to the walls of their rented home to burn for heat. The family was forced to move in with a distant relative who treated them very badly and eventually forced a sexual relationship on Frank's mother, Angela. As a teenager, Frank worked at the post office as a telegram delivery boy and later delivered newspapers and magazines for Eason's. He also worked for the local money lender, writing threatening demand letters as a means to save enough to finally realize his dream of returning to the United States. When the money lender died, he found her hidden money, and threw her ledger of debtors into the river. The story ends with Frank's sailing into Poughkeepsie, New York, ready to begin a new life at age nineteen.


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The International Space Station is an internationally developed research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion by late 2011. The people involved in this are Commander and Science Officer Michael Foale and ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter. The event took place in space.

 

Primary, a research laboratory, the ISS offers an advantage over spacecraft such as NASA's Space Shuttle because it is a long term platform in the space environment, where extended studies are conducted. The presence of a permanent crew affords the ability to monitor, replenish, modify experiments or launch new ones, benefits generally unavailable on specialized unmanned spacecraft.

 

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Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He's a retired American professional basketball player, active businessman, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on NBA website states, "By acclamation, , MJ is the greatest basketball player of all time. Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instrumental in popularizing the NBAaround the world in the 1980s and 1990s.
 
Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he anchored his athletic career by playing baseball, football, and basketball. He tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but he was deemed too short to play at that level. Motivated too prove his worth; he became the star of junior varsity. He finally then moved up to varsity. In 1981, Jordan earned a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
 
He got drafted at 1984 to the Chicago Bulls. During his first season in the NBA, he average about 28 points per game on 51% shooting. He quickly became a fan favorite, even in opposing arenas. "A Star is Born" just over a month into his professional career. Jordan was also voted in as an All-Star starter by the fans in his rookie season. He earned 6 championships with the Chicago Bulls, even earned the title Hall of Famer.

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Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee was born on June 8, 1955 in London, England. He attended Sheen Mount primary school, and then went on Emanuel School in London, from 1969 to 1973. He studied at The Queen's College, oxford, from 1973 to 1976, where he received a first-class degree in Physics.
 
In 1994, Berners-Lee funded the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT. It compromised various companies that were willing to create standards and recommendations to improve the quality of the Web. Berners-Lee made his idea available freely, with no patent and no royalties due. The World Wide Web Consortium decided that its standards should be based on royalty-free technology, so that they could easily be adopted anyone.
 
He's an important science figure because he found W3C, which helped improve the Web.

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Awards
1999 Newbery Medal
1998 National Book Award for People's Literature
1999 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
 

On Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 11:58 AM, abodd wardak <aboddwardak@gmail.com> wrote:the plot of the story would be, That a boy named Stanley Yelnates didnt have as much luck as others do. he was cursed by an old women when his great grandfather dint take a widow tho get a drink of water, That was his task and if he didnt complete his task him and his family would be cursed.
 
Louis Sachar was born in East Medow, New York in 1954. His family moved to California when he was a young boy then he attended college at the University of California in  Berkeley, California . During his last year of college he received school credit for working at Hillside Elementary School, an experience that inspired him to write his first children's book, . Sideways Stories Wayside School Many of the characters in the book are based on children that Sachar taught and the teacher is based on Sachar himself. Sideway was storis from Wayside School published during Sachar's first year at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He did not know if he would be able to support himself by writing children's books, so he continued his legal education. He graduated from law school in 1980 and, after passing the bar exam, became a lawyer.


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true to the game is a book that wa published by an aurthor nameTerri Woods. The book was published in 1999. The plot of the story is a young men by the nam of Quadir takes over the drug industry. after he sold many kilos of dope in the inner streets of "philly" he became a millinaire in the late 80's. In the book he also hasa girlfriend and they are deeply in love wth each other, Her role in the book is just to maintain he life that quadir provides her with. while quadir is in the drug industry he also has to be aware of  drug dealers, thieves , the mafia, and police.
 
Teri Wood is a native of Philadelphia. She has worked as a legal secretary/paralegal for eight years in a Philadelphia Center City law firm practicing in defense litigation for a national insurance company. She began writing True to the Game in 1993. She copyrighted her work in 1994 and began to submit her work to publishers. After being turned down, the book sat dormant in a closet for two years. By 1997, she was determined to do something for herself. In 1998, she began selling hand made books on the street and out the trunk of her car. With the success of the hand made books, she started her own publishing and production company, Meow Meow Productions, and has successfully launched her first novel, True to the Game, making it available for bookstores across the country.

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The Oklahoma City bombing was a bomb attack on  Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 by Timothy McVeigh, an American militi  movement sympathizer who detonated an explosive-filled truck parked in front of the building. McVeigh's co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, had assisted in the bomb preparation. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6, and injured more than 680 people. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. The bomb was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.
 
 
McVeigh entered Oklahoma City at 8:50 a.m. CST. At 8:57 a.m. CST the Regency Towers Apartments' lobby security camera that had recorded Nichols' pickup truck three days earlier recorded the Ryder truck heading towards the Murrah Federal Building.[ At the same moment, McVeigh lit the five-minute fuse. Three minutes later, still a block away, he lit the two-minute fuse. He parked the Ryder truck in a drop-off zone situated under the building's day-care center, exited and locked the truck, and as he headed to his getaway vehicle, dropped the keys to the truck a few blocks away.
At 9:02 a.m. CST, the Ryder truck, containing in excess of 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel mixture, detonated in front of the north side of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Hundreds of people were killed or injured. One third of the building was destroyed by the explosion, which created a 30-foot (9.1 m) wide, 8-foot (2.4 m) deep crater on NW 5th Street next to the building. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. The broken glass alone accounted for 5% of the death total and 69% of the injuries outside the Murrah Federal Building. The blast destroyed or burned 86 cars around the site, causing secondary explosions from the vehicles' gas tanks and tires. The destruction of the buildings left several hundred people homeless and shut down multiple offices in downtown Oklahoma City. The explosion was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.
The effects of the blast were equivalent to over 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of TNT and could be heard and felt up to 55 miles (89 km) away. Seismometers at Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) away, and in Norman, Oklahoma, 16.1 miles (25.9 km) away, recorded the blast as measuring approximately 3.0 on the Richter scale.

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• White Plains, New York
• February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996

Jonathan Larson was a well known playwright. He’s mostly known for his plays “Rent” and “tick, tick…BOOM!” I know great plays right! Well, how do you think that he got the inspiration and spunk needed to make such awesome shows?

Throughout Jonathan’s whole life he was exposed to the fine arts such as: instrument playing, being in choir, performing in musical at his high school. After graduating, he went to Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, where he performed in numerous plays and musicals. Afterward he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

And then! In 1989, Billy Aronson and Jonathan collaborated together, with their ideas! Then after some time of thinking, in 1993 Rent became a stage reading at New York Theatre Workshop.

Even though the show was off of its feet and getting going, Rent wasn’t seen publically until after Larson died. He died from an aortic dissection, which is when a tear in the wall of the aorta that causes blood to flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta and force the layers apart. He had been experiencing chest pains and nausea for days prior to, but the doctors misdiagnosed it as flu.

Then Rent blew up! It was high on the good musical scale. Larson was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score; the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

Larson was pretty awesome! I’m astounded how he pulled all that off. Did you know that he was extremely poor until he died? He went from a broke everyday whatever person who was trying to get somewhere to one of the best playwrights ever! Good Job Jonathan Larson!!

On Thursday, June 3, 2010 0 comments




Harry Potter

June 30, 1997

The setting of the story is in the school for witches and warlocks (Hogwarts).

the main characters in the book are, Harry Potter, Ron, Dumbledore, and Hermione

The plot of the Harry potter based around harry and his two friends trough out school getting into trouble and helping each other.

A fun fact is that when I went to see harry potter for the first time I waited in a line that started inside and it went all the way out, and I ended up being one of the last people in.

The Harry Potter series has won numerous awards. Here are some of them (from Wikipedia). Awards since the initial publication of Philosopher's Stone including four Whitaker Platinum Book Awards (all of which were awarded in 2001), three Nestle Smarties Book Prizes (1997–1999), two Scottish Arts Council Book Awards (1999 and 2001), the inaugural Whitbread children's book of the year award (1999), the WHSmith book of the year (2006), among others

The dursley's had everything they wanted but within them laid a secret. They feared that someone would find out there secret. They wanted to act like there never was a potter family, Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley sister but Mr. Potter was a disgrace to the Dursley name. They wouldn't know what to do if the Potters should up to there house. They knew that they also have a son, his name Harry. They did not what there son playing with the Potters boy.

Harry Potter was one of the best work to ever come out. The book challenged kids with its long chapters and bizarre plot. The book was translated into 67 languages and is claimed to be "one of the most important pieces of Ancient Greek prose written in many centuries". Harry potter books even did better than books by Roald Dahl who made all of the books kids preferred. This book is used by instructors to improve literacy for kids because of the complexity of the dialog. That's what makes this book so significant .

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George Herbert Walker Bush was born June 12, 1924 he also became the 41st president of the united states 1989–1993. He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President 1981–1989 a congress man an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence. he became very successful. Bush was born in Massachusetts. Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941, at the age of 18, Bush put his pans to go to college on hold because he wanted to join the war doing so, He became the youngest aviator in the US Navy at the time. He served until the end of the war, then finally after the war was over he attended a school name Yale University. He graduated in 1948, Soon after he moved his family to Texas and entered the oil business, this made him become a millionaire by the age of 40. He became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company, serving as a member of the House of Representatives, among other positions. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States in 1980, but was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be the vice presidential nominee, and the two were subsequently elected. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation and fighting drug abuse. In 1988, Bush launched a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as president, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency; military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf at a time of world change; the1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton.

On Tuesday, June 1, 2010 0 comments


• Born: July 30, 1956
• Lone Tree, Oklahoma

Anita Hill went to Oklahoma State University to get her undergraduate degree. Then she went to Yale Law school where she got her Juris Doctor degree. In 1981, she served as counsel to the assistant secretary of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Anita became an attorney-adviser to Clarence Thomas at the U.S. department of Education. After some time of working for him, she alleged that Clarence made sexually inappropriate remarks towards her. In her testimony she recited some of the inappropriate things that Clarence allegedly said:
“He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes....On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess....Thomas was drinking a Coke in his office, he got up from the table at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke, looked at the can and asked, "Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?"
Eventually, the senate rejected Hill’s accusations and then everything blew over. Hmm, I’m not quite sure whether he really did it or not. It was mentioned that she was the one to make their work space not appropriate. I wouldn’t put it above it her, I’ve noticed that there have been many women who did horrible things and got away with it. Women are good at being the victim.

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Pokemon is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of inerlinkable Game Boy, Pokemon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchise in the world, behind only Nintendo's own Mario series. Pokemon properties have since been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books, and other media.



The name Pokemon is the Romanized contraction of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters, as such contractions are very common in Japan. The term "Pokemon", in addition to referring to the Pokemon franchise itself, also collectively refers to the 493 fictional species that have made appearances in Pokemon media as of the release of the Pokemon RPG for Nintendo DS, Pokemon Platinum.



Pokemon has become a big and popular thing all over the world. It's still famous today. Kids, teenagers, even some young adults still play, watch, and read Pokemon. Pokemon is important because it changed people's views of videogames.

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Basketball is a team sports in which two teams of 5 players try to score against one another by placing a ball through a 10 foot basket. Points are scored by shooting the ball through the basket from above and swishing the nylon. The team with more points at the end of the game wins, but additional time, a.k.a overtime, may be issued when they tie at the end of the game. The ball can be advanced on the court by dribbling the ball or passing it between teammates. You cannot carry or walk with the ball, and disruptive physical, foul, is penalized, and free throws will be issued if an offensive player is fouled while shooting the ball.

 

Through time, basketball has developed to involve many common techniques of shooting, passing, and dribbling, as well as player positions, and offensive and defensive structures. There are 5 kinds of positions, Center, Power Forward, Small Forward, Shooting Guard, and Point Guard. The tallest player on the team usually plays as the Center, tall/strong plays as Power Forward, shooters play as the Shooting guard, and playmakers, sometimes leaders, play as the Point Guard.

 

Basketball has developed through the years; it became big all over the world. People play basketball not just for fame and money, but also for fun.

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The first attack on the world trade cent was by a group of  conspirators. The attack happen on feburary 26,1993. The bomb wen off in the north tower around 12:00 pm.The nitrate hydrogen gas enhanced device was supposed  to knock the North Tower  over then collide with the South Tower so that both towers would collapse and fall.
 
Ramzi Yousef and a Jordanian friend, eyadlsmoil  drove a yellow van into  Manhattan, and pulled into the public parking garage under  the World Trade Center around.  Yousef ignited the 20-foot fuse, and fled. the bomb exploded and generating an estimated pressure of 150,000 psi. When the bomb was done exploding the pressure caused alot of damage in the world trade center, It was a hole 98ft wide.  The bomb also caused the electricity to go out and a lot of smoke to rise throughout the building.
 
Before the bombing took place there were alot of people inside including elemtary school students. Even though the impact of the bomb was very big only six people died and 1,042 people were injured. the impact was big but not big enough because most of the people who were injured was injured mostly during the evacuation.  Also the North Tower was able to have constuction work done to fix the damage made by the bomb.
 
 

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• January 17, 1994, 4:31 AM
• Northridge California
• 6.7 Magnitude, lasted about 10 to 20 seconds

It is considered the worst earthquake since the San Fernando earthquake in 1971. The earthquake destroyed many overpasses and triggered many landslides in the mointain area. The Antelope Vallet Freeway fell onto the Golden State Freeway and then both parts collapsed. It caused billions of dollars in damages.

It was recorded that 54 people died and 9000 people were injured. The reason for the low number for casualties is that it was 4 in the morning, so everyone was at home asleep. Unfortunately, many houses were burned down and some people were trapped underneath the rubble that was once their homes. There was this one case where this pregnant woman was trapped in her house and she was freed by the police but her four year old daughter was crushed to death under the house.

Its funny that i've never heard of this earthquake before. I mean as big and disaterous it was. I watched this news clip that showed all the damage that the quake caused and it looked horrible. I mean that poor little kid being crushed to death, probably was sleeping soundly in their bed. I feel really bad. It just sucks because you can't control when an earthquake or any other natural disaster is gong to happen. Its the thought, that anything can happen at anytime that makes you want to cherish every moment we have and enjoy it.

On Friday, May 28, 2010 0 comments


Sister Souljah
(born 1964)

Sister Souljah is an American hiphop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer.. She is best known for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the U.S. during the 1992 presidential campaign. Clinton's well-known repudiation of her comments led to what is now known in politics as a Sister Souljah movement.

Souljah was born Lisa Williamson in THe Bronx, New York. She recounts in her autobiography that she was born into poverty and raised on welfare. At age 10 she moved with her family to the suburbs of Inglewood, New Jersey, a middle-lower class suburb with a strong African-American presence, a slight change from the big city feel of the Bronx. Inglewood is also home to other famous Black artists such as George Benson, Eddie Murphy, and Regina Belle.

Souljah took a very active and special interest in learning everything she could about African history, which she felt was left out of the education curriculum in the United States purposely: "I supplemented my education in the White American school system by reading African history, which was intentionally left out of the curriculum of American students." While at Dwight Morrow High School, a school that had a relatively even distribution of Black-, Latino-, and Jewish-student enrollment and a majority Black administration during the time of her studies, from 1978 to 1981. She was a legislative intern in the House of Representatives. Souljah was also the recipient of several honors during her teenage years. She won the American Legion's Constitutional Oratory Contest, a scholarship to attend Cornell University's Advanced Summer Program.

In 1995 Sister Souljah published a volume of autobiography titled No Disrespect. In 1999, she made her debut as a novelist with The Coldest Winter Ever. An indirect sequel of the novel, titled Midnight: A Gangster Love Story, originally scheduled for October 14, 2008, was published November 4, 2008, and entered The New York Times bestseller list at #7 its first week out and remained there as of February 2009. Another sequel, Midnight 2: Word is Bond, is to be published in 2010, and another novel, Porsche Santiaga, is due in 2011.

She also does occasional pieces for Essence Magazine and has written for The New Yorker.


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Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a space shuttle in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is one of NASA's Great Observations.

Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays and budget problems.When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities. However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble's Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible light image ever made of the universe's most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion in the universe.

Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. Four servicing missions were performed from 1993–2002, but the fifth was canceled on safety grounds following the space shuttle Columbia disaster.. However, after public discussions, NASA administrator Mike Griffin approved one final servicing mission, completed in 2009. The telescope is now expected to function until at least 2014, when its 'successor', the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched.

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Tupac Shukur is a famous rapper that grew up in Baltimore Maryland. But he was in a hospital on the eastside of Harlem. He was born june 16,1971. While his friend/enimie Christopher Wallace was born and raised in Brooklyn New York. In the 1990's the both became very popular.


Tupacs rapping career started i the early 1990's. He finally got a hit record and thats what brought him to the spotlight. This hit song was called "Same Song" After he came out with this song he became very well known. But while his music and acting career was getting better he also to have alot of enimies around. Som people say it was because the way he talked and acted towards others that made them dislike him. Tupac also started to hav legal issues november 30 1994 Tupac was scheduled to go to court for rape charges. But he could not make it because he was shot 5 times in a rap studio that Christopher was recording in. This exact incident is what lead to the problems between himself and Biggie smals A.K.A Christopher Wallace.


Biggie had been making music since he was a teen on the block. This is also how he became known around his nieborhood. At a young age Biggie had always been into trouble he was selling crack cocaine at the age of 17. After biggie was released from prison he came out with a mixtape that got everybody attention by the name of Biggie smalls. After he became really famous arounf New York he was finally introduced to Sean Combs A.K.A P. Diddy he was the manerger of a big record label at the time. But after a few weeks he was soon fired from his job. So P. Diddy started his own record label and named it bad boys records with Biggie as his first artist. After Biggie made a couple og hit record he was introduced to Tupac. a lot of people thought it would b good for the two rappers to do a song togather so they did and in the makin became close friends. That is until November 30, 1994.


November 30, 1994 Tupac was shot five times. After this he stop trusting A lot of people that he once trusted, Because he felt that it was a set up by Biggie Smalls. This is what made the two become enimies. Tupac soon signed to a new record label by the name of Death Row. AfterTupac wnet to Death Row the problems that Biggie and Tupac had escaladed to a whole different level. Tupac started makin diss songs to Biggie and talking bad in the media. Buth while Tupac was doing all this Biggie started to make some of his own diss music toward Tupac. But really the whole situation was about who can sale more records.


All of this came to an end September 13, 1996 when Tupac shukur was murdered at a Las Vegas stop light. this happend after the main event fight for Mike Tyson. It was a variety of rumors going around that Biggie had something to do wit the death of Tupac Shukar. But Biggie denied all of the rumors. A year later Christopher Wallace was murdered March 9, 1997. At a stop light exactly like Tupac was murdered. The two rappers are commonly looked at as the best rappers in rap history.


On Thursday, May 27, 2010 0 comments

    Dolly the sheep

Ian Wilmut, 7 July 1944 Warwickshire, England

Keith Campbell 1954 Birmingham,England

5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003

Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in Scotland.

This used the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the cell nucleus from an adult cell is transferred into an unfertilized oocyte that has had its nucleus removed. The hybrid cell is then stimulated to divide by an electric shock, and when it develops into a blastocyst it is implanted in a surrogate mother.

The outcomes from this sheep is that now there are may other cloned animals and it allowed other thing to be cloned. From this scientific discovery we now can clone any animal, and we have. We now have horses, sheep,bulls, and even dogs that have been cloned. It opened a new door for in the sciences world and there were movies made about cloned humans. It had a big effect on a lot of people.

This is a very significant discovery b/c I can save the world. I say it can save the world because you can now clone endangered species. One day they can even bring back dinosaurs and let them roam this planet. The only scary thing is that they can also clone humans, though its illegal I bet some scientist are working on it and the thought of fake people is super scary.