GO! Entry

I think playing Go was very interesting game, and I liked it because it was a change of ambience in the class, we are always reading and doing different kinds of stuff but never playing computer games. I also liked it because it made you think a lot but at the same time have fun. It was also fun in the sense we were all competing who did each level faster. Though the game is not at all easy, in fact it was challenging i really liked it.

I didn't quite do all the 47 levels i did like 28 or so because it takes a lot of time and also thought, but I really liked it because it makes time go by in a really productive way. Instead of taliking on MSN or facebeook you can play this game and exercise your intelligence. I think we should play more games of this sort in English class I liked it a lot and I think playing it on board game will be very interesting. I also love the uncertainty of picking on a spot and waiting to see at the bottom of the "board" if it says failed or SUCCESS!!!

incorporating paraphrasing, summaries and quotation into speeches.

Persuasive Speech, Poverty

Good morning ladies and gentlemen thank you for being here today. Today I’m going to talk to you about a very serious issue in our country, that we all talk about but never actually do something about it. This is poverty. Poverty is one of the biggest issues in or country, it is estimated that more than 45% of the population is poor in Colombia.

This means that this huge group of people don’t have their basic needs covered. “Poverty began in our government in a 60% it is now between a 42% to 45% and the goal for 2010 is 35%”. This our president Alvaro Uribe said in a press conference in June 2006. (Example of quote).

In my personal opinion I think every single person should have a home either rented or ideally owned, with services like water and electrical supply. Parents must have an income that allows every family to satisfy their needs according to the number of members in the family. They should have money to provide their children a good and balanced nutrition. Another important need in our country is education, which includes primary, elementary, middle and high school at least. Many children in Colombia don’t attend to school because they are working either in a voluntary way or forced to do so by strangers, to exploit them, it means children can´t keep the money they get in a legal or an illegal way. Some children are used to sell drugs or to sexual purposes. That is how poor children in our countries are exposed at a very early age to drugs, alcohol and other substances. Gangs may take advantage of these kids making them believe they can give them protection, the kind of protection that their families cannot, but in change they make children commit crimes. This is how poverty initially starts, because since little children, or better yet, children’s parents think that it is better working that going to school. And this is a total errand thought because if children get education they will become someone in life and succeed. In this same press conference our president Uribe said the following “Avery important program for us is to support the poorest family in nutrition, school assistance and access to health. This is what we call families in action.” (Example of quote).

I can think of some mechanisms to solve this issue. The first one would be creating new jobs, by promoting the creation of new business instructing both men and women in professional careers. This way the unemployment rate would decrease and poverty diminish at the same time. Government should also encourage education to children by prohibiting them to work, or adults to hire them. School should be the only future for the children, at no cost, providing a free education until college. When President Uribe spoke about a bank for the poor people and giving them micro-credits I think he was trying to say is that lending money to poor people is vey important for them is to invest in their little industries. (Example of paraphrase).

The next basic need to be covered is health; it should be paid according to the family income. When persons are unemployed, the government has to take care of them, there is no reason for a person to be rejected by a hospital when having a serious illness or an emergency, just because they can´t pay immediately.

As you can see there are some material things like health, shelter, job and education which are important factors that contribute to human dignity. There are some basical needs for every human being that when they are not satisfied it makes people live with less dignity considering we all have the same rights. It is urgent to create mechanisms to solve them from the very roots. We all possess the same rights regardless our color, nationality, beliefs or in this case economical state. I belief my opinion should be taken on account for I believe in the future of this country. The following is a summary of president Uribes intervention for the Ibero-American chiefs of stet and government on Nov, 10, 2007. He started by telling the audience about the 5 principle values we are working in Colombia which are modern democracy, respect for the liberty of thought and social improvement. He also spoke about the international debt an problems with oil. (Example of Summary).

Matthew 13-22

Jesus is always talking to the crowds to come to him and that you can always be a better person., one thing I noticed that happens to Jesus and many times it happens to us, or even worse, we sometimes do it to others is rejecting people because no on likes them (even though we do). A good example is when Jesus is rejected in Nazareth his hometown. The majority of people are there for you in the good times (when you are wealthy, having fun, etc) nut in the bad ties all those people go away and pretend they’ve never known you. And the truth is that if we really love somebody we should stay by their side regardless what other people think about them.

In Matthew Jesus gives a warning against the temptations of wealth. I agree with it because there is a saying in Spanish that says : “El que nunca vio a Dios, cuando lo ve se asusta”. This means that when you don’t have money when you have it you go crazy. So Jesus is just to respect our place of prayers saying don’t go that way.

Most of the things Jesus does I agree and admire, but one thing I don’t that he said in his preaching’s that he forbids divorce. This is because if you are truly not happy with the person you are married to you should take different paths and no one should force you to be with them if you don’t want to.

I also liked when in 21:13 Jesus states “My house shall be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers”. I liked it because it tells to respect our place of prayer and even our house.

Matthew 1-12

Starting to read the New Testament was a totally different experience tan Reading the old one. One thing that I noticed very clearly was that at the beginning when Mary is pregnant they don’t pay as much attention to her as she deserves, instead they focus more on Joseph. Then I thought it was maybe because he was a good parent and stayed at her side at all times. In chapters 1-12 basically 3 things happen: 1. Jesus birth 2. Jesus does miracles 3. Jesus sermons. He gives his famous Sermon on the Mount where he encourages where he encourages a lot of values about love, humbleness, trust, faith etc.

In one part Jesus mentions that “poor, meek, and hungry are blessed”. I like this a lot because Jesus, considering all the power he has he “hangs out” with poor people. He helps them and loves them just as any other human being and doesn’t treats them with inferiority. But like always there were people who criticized Jesus for hanging out with the poor. The good thing is that Jesus didn’t even care, he doesn’t mind about what people think about him he has a lot of personality and authenticity, which is the kind of personality we should all have.

Tao Te-Ching 44-66

I think the person who wrote this must have put a great deal of time and thought, because in every sentence there is one thing you learn. And in every chapter there is at least one thing to analyze. Some views of the Tao I saw along the reading were: The Tao stresses a lot in telling us that material things are not what matters he says wealth is not the most important thing. .He says we have to be humble and be content with what we have. He also tells us that when something is too perfect its not right he says spontaneous things are the best. A thing that is very connected with this says that you have to let things be, don't insist on changing the course of things. Something I don't quite get is that he tells that when Tao is not present everything is "unleashed".

Some values expressed in the reading are: be good to all people,be humble at all times, be kind and thankful and lastly love everything around you. Among loving they mention that that who truly loves life will live without fear. Do things without expecting a reward, dint talk to much. One thing that really surprised me was that in chapter 57 he says "Wage war with surprise moves"once more i think this is very contradicting from Tao´s part, considering he always tells us war is not the answer.

Lastly it is said that we should all follow Tao´s teachings because it is the healthier way to live your live. Among the text they say that his teachings are a way of making your life and thoughts better. Also he says non-action is the best in most of cases.

Tao Te-Ching 28-43

When I always finish reading my chapters assigned from the Tao Te Ching I end up overwhelmed of so much knowledge! You end up thinking all you have read about and how wise it is. I came up with some important points for today's reading according to Tao´s teachings:

- Be an example to the world and be a leader, but never forget where you come from and your values.
- Life is hard for some and easy for others, but either way we've got to affront it.
- Achieve your goals, but never be too proud of them . Also don't use force to achieve them because this is not Tao´s way.
- A man of war prefers the easy path while a wise man prefers the correct one even though it will lead him to the most difficult one.
- Tao is everywhere all things depend upon it.

I think all these tings above are correct and every well thought, but in chapter 36, there is certainly one thing i don't agree upon it says: "Soft and weak overcome hard and strong". I think this quote is mistaken, because if this were true nothing would happen to good people, for example no one would get mugged or kidnapped. Also we have to be realistic the big ones always have the power in a sort of way, so physically I don't agree with this quote. But mentally maybe I do!

One thing that also bothers me about this text is that it is very contradictory. they always say that your work should be recognized and taken in account but at the same time is says that you shouldn't be proud of the good things you do. At the beginning of the book they mention that effort is not always taken in account, but as it goes in it mentions that you shouldn't be proud of your accomplishments, which is something that I don't agree with. Because when you do something good you should feel good with yourself and no underestimate yourself.

Tao Te-Ching 13-28

When I started reading the second half assigned of the Tao Te Ching i started getting it a little bit more. The things they said i found them more logical and understanding. When i started reading in chapter 13 something caught my attention. I liked that t hey talk about "accepting". They mention that we don't accept what is happening to us and instead we complain about it all the time. It says we have to accept our disgrace and accept everything that happens to us and we don't agree with. It also says to accept misfortune, which is something that most of the time we don't do. When something bad (or at least we think it is) we don't accept it and just look at the negative side from it . we don't try to see it from other perspectives and understands that things may happen for a reason.

Towards the ed in Chapter 24 I saw a typical example of what we sometimes are it says: "These are extra things and unnecessary luggage". I think this applies to people in today's world because we buy and consume a lot and the worst part is that we don't even need all this things. It is amazing all the things we spend money on and consume, and we don't stop and think that maybe someone could use this money in a wiser way. We think that everything that matters is money and material things, but that's just not the way life works! Life is composed of beautiful things that we don't realize they are there and ignore them. For example a beautiful sunset is an incomparable thing but we don't see how extraordinary it can be. Instead we want Ipods cellphones etc, things that at they end they are not worth a cent.

In conclusion I am really starting to like this book, because it talks about things that most of us don't dare to, it makes us realize things and lets us thinking:
"I'm i really living my life correctly?"

Tao Te-Ching 1-12

So far I am liking the Tao Te-Chiang I think it is a little hard to understand because you have to wait there until you understand every line and analyze it really well. I think it is sometimes a little confusing because it talks about different topics and goes off the road, but all the things they say are really smart and well thought. I think they put a lot of importance in "effort" it says effort is really important though it is sometimes not recognized. It also talks about women and that they do a great job in all tyhey do.

I really liked Chapter 8 were it mentions this:

In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dedaling with others be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In daily life, be competent.
In action, be aware of time and reason.

No fight: no blame.

I thought this chapter was very interesting because is says very deep things that are a guide in our lives. I think this simple paragraph might be useful to guide someone to have a healthy life. There are great values in here.

Though the book is still not very clear for me i am liking it a lot and like The Annalects I think I will learn a great deal from it.