By: Brodie Billingsley

What Exactly is A Revolution and Evolution?

A revolution is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system. So basically if people disagree with a rule of law or just the way a certain group of people are being treated they fight for change and do what they must in order to have things changed.

Evolution is thought to be how different organisms developed and changed over the years due to either themselves or things around them. Every year different things evolve which can change the balance of literally everything.

Importance of Balancing Revolution and Evolution

The balancing of revolution and evolution is very important. With a revolution comes evolution and how we act in the revolution changes the people as a whole and can lead them down many different paths. Peaceful protests show other people that things can be done differently. There are ways to peacefully protest and show the meaning of your protest but storming buildings is beyond peaceful. The storming leads to a bad look on people as a whole and without the balance of revolution and evolution could lead to consequences many won’t like.

The French Revolution

Why did the French revolution happen? The French Revolution happened because of the decision of the estate general. 1st and 2nd class decided that wealth shouldn’t be shared with the 3rd class and that they deserved to pay to the nobles and other upperclassmen. This caused the 3rd estate to come together and form the “Tennis Court Oath” which is the act of defiance by representatives of the non privileged classes of the French nation during the meeting. During the revolution, the 3rd estate would storm the bastille in search of weapons and gunpowder and free prisoners.

Latin American Revolutions

Many Latin American Revolutions seem to be slaves having a revolution for their freedom. Slaves were mistreated all around the world in the past and there are still slave industries today in the world despite laws and rules against it. Some of the revolutions were inspired by the French Revolution. Like the French revolution, slaves would revolt due to unfair treatment like the 3rd estate. Latin American revolutions only happened for fair judgment. They weren’t given the same opportunities, hince slaves. They would fight for their freedom due to racial discrimination and racism. They would fight for decades for freedom even if fighting against legal and social barriers.

These revolutions are very inspiring and should be spread to young adults to show how simply “fighting” for equal judgment is okay if it’s for a good cause. People that protest today in the world take them in different ways. Violent protests aren’t right and only spread violence. For example, storming the capital. Those who were identified for storming the capital also got certain things taken away from them. One man was denied the ability to board a plane because he stormed the capital. Peaceful protests are the more appropriate action and cause less chaos. It’s also the more mature action, aggressive protests give people the wrong look and inspire children in the wrong way.

The Revolutions

The revolutions have many similarities and differences. All of the revolutions happened because of something the people disagreed with. This group of individuals would fight for what they want which was like freedom, ending racism, ending racial discrimination, equal judgement, fairness. These people would even get violent if terms were no met for them thus inspiring people today to fight for what they believe is right. Like the black lives matter protest. There are people fighting to end racial discrimination and will do anything to end it. All revolutions have a cause and motivation when helps compare different revolutions to each other.

But the differences can really stand out when looking at these revolutions. People are fighting for different causes and not all revolutions come out successful. These revolutions can cause people to get killed and all the revolutions had a different ending. Some protests would be done publicly and violently while some may have been peacefully. Each revolution basically had a leader of some sort to lead the people to the success of their revolution but some didn’t achieve that goal.

Conclusion

Many revolutions have taken place in the past and are currently happening somewhere in the world. These revolutions leave looks on the human race and inspire others to act with these revolutions. But these revolutions shape humanity and make it look different, ever so changing the human race like an evolution. These revolutions are helping us as human beings evolve and are changing what we know, expanding what we know. Thus shows the importance for the balance between evolution and revolution.

By: Brodie Billingsley

My Initial Thoughts (Before Article)

When I heard of farmer drones I thought the idea was absurd and would have many unbeneficial effects on farming. I thought drones would scare the animals and have the potential risk of damaging property or injuring animals. I did think that using drones for surveillance would be extremely helpful in order to see a birds-eye view of the land to see how everything is going.

My Thoughts Now (After Article)

I still have mixed feelings on farmer drones but I think they would be pretty beneficial for farming. I also think that these drones should be heavily surveillance and should go through the FAA’s judgment because without these regulations drones would cause havoc and it would have the potential of becoming a global issue. My overall view on the situation is that drones should be allowed to be owned by farmers have they have such a huge impact on farming.

Beneficial Effects

There are many benefits to farmer drones. Without drones, farmers normally have to spray herbicide over the whole field to rid of all the weeds and plants they didn’t want on their farm. But with drones their able to spray these chemicals in specific spots on these plants and get rid of them with ease and not risk environmental damage.

Another benefit drones give for farmers is a birdseye view on the field. With a birdseye view on your field, you can locate potential missing livestock and see if there are any problems with the field. It gives the farmer information from up in the sky so the farmer doesn’t have to drive or walk all over the farm just to check up on everything like livestock. It makes measuring the height of plants and counting them way easier.

Drones also can enter infested areas full of pests and potential dangers to either the environment or animals. It keeps the farmer from risking getting harmed and lets the farmer watch areas where the pests might be or spreading. Drones could even spray pesticides in the area that’s infested in order to protect the crops and livestock.

Drones might even be able to herd animals so that farmers don’t have to do it themselves. While drones might need to be upgraded for this potential, it would give farmers even more of a reason to get drones. The drones let the farmer check in on livestock and survey the area to make sure the livestock are safe and happy.

Unbeneficial Effects

There are a couple of risks with these drones that could cause potential hazards. I believe the drones are worth it and should be bought by farmers but the risks can damage the field or be life threatening.

The drones cause hazards for aircraft. There have been situations where drones have crashed into airplanes or flown too high and almost collided with helicopters. This doesn’t hurt the farm but it could hurt you and others. Flying drones above limited height zones could lead to your arrest. They could also get in the way of people’s jobs taking place in the sky.

Drones could cause damage to your crops and injure your animals. Drones aren’t known to be quiet which can cause livestock to become startled and wonder away from the other animals and get lost away from the farm.

My Overall Opinion

I believe farmer drones should be considered by farmers because they’re really helpful and can basically do what the farmer can do but better. Although it’s a great idea to own one I definitely think there should somehow be a limit to how high it can fly as it causes flying hazards. I Also believe you need to be experienced in flying drones before owning one for yourself and should have to sign something stating that you won’t fly beyond certain standards and such. In conclusion I believe farmer drones would be a great addition to farming but would require high standards to fly one youself.

By: Brodie Billingsley

The Theme(s)

There are a couple of themes in “The Gift of the Magi”. These possible themes are generosity, poverty, and selflessness. But the main theme in my opinion is love. The story is sad and heartwarming showing of the love of the couple and their deep devotion to make each other happy. The theme selflessness and generosity are really good themes for the story due to the fact that this couple are wanting to do something special for each other. They show that they care for the other and want to make them happy.

The Main Theme

The main and overall theme is love. Jim and Della part there most valuable possessions just to give each other a gift in which shows their love for each other. Della’s hair seemed to be very valuable to her, as much as sh valued it she still needed a gift for Jim so she visits Mrs. Sofronie in which she gives her hair to Sofronie. “I buy hair,’ said Mrs. Sofronie. ‘Take your hat off and let me look at it.’ Down fell the brown waterfall. ‘Twenty dollars,’ said Mrs. Sofronie, lifting the hair to feel its weight. ‘Give it to me quick,’ said Della.” With the twenty dollars earned she gets Jim a watch in which she values to give to Jim. The story describes her with her hair short as a “Schoolboy.” She gives up her hair to make Jim happy on Christmas evening and she becomes nervous about how he’ll think of her. Jim is confused when he see’s Della but still states that he won’t love her any less no matter how she looks but also says, “I sold the watch to get the money
to buy the combs.”

The Conclusion

The Gift of the Magi represents love and shows a couple of love each other so much they’d give up their most valuable items in order to make each other happy. It shows how their love makes up for poverty and as it might have been dumb for what they did they show that the thought is what counts and the commitment for each other shows that love can have a strong link between two people.

By: Brodie Billingsley

The Age of Absolutism

The Age of Absolutism was the age that lasted between the 17th and 18th centuries when Europe was ruled by powerful monarchs. Absolutism gives the ruler a lot more power and what they do can not be questioned by civilians. Parliament eventually limited monarch power so innocent civilians couldn’t be executed for something as simple as questioning the ruler. Unlike Absolutism, constitutionalism limits the ruler’s power and makes it fair for everyone. The Parliament created the Parliament of right in order to give fairness to the people.

Map of Europe During The Age of Absolutism

The Impact of Absolutism and Constitutionalism on European Nations

The impact of Absolutism and Constitutionalism was great and really affected history and countries today. Many places take inspiration from absolutism or constitutionalism but there were monarchs who represented absolutism or constitutionalism

Charles l was the son of James l. He took the throne after James died. From Charles being at war with Spain and France, he needed money. His first call to the Parliament, they refused, the next time they made Charles sign The Petition of Rights before giving him the money. Charles signed the Petition but ignored what the Petition wanted him to do. The key idea of the petition of rights was: No taxation without the consent of parliament, No imprisonment without cause, No quartering of soldiers on subjects, and No martial law in peacetime. It set in motion that there needed to be laws above the king. Along with the English Civil War which Charles wanted everyone to follow one religion. Then the Scots threatened to invade England. They went to war between Charles and the Puritans. The Puritans were the people who supported the Parliament. The Puritans started to gain control over Charles’ army. Oliver Cromwell the general took Charles as a prisoner. 

 In 1645, Cromwell’s New Model Army began defeating the Cavaliers, and the tide turned toward the Puritans. In 1647, they held the king prisoner.Cromwell landed on Irish shores with an army and crushed the uprising. He seized the lands and homes of the Irish and gave them to English soldiers. Fighting, plague, and famine killed hundreds of thousands.

In 1649, he abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords. He established a commonwealth, a republican form of government. Cromwell almost immediately had to put down a rebellion in Ireland.

England had become a constitutional monarchy where laws limited the ruler’s power. William and Mary had sworn to recognize Parliament as their partner. Parliament drafted a Bill of Rights to ensure that there were limits to the ruler’s power. The key ideas of the Bill of Rights are: No suspending of Parliament’s laws, No levying of taxes without a specific grant from Parliament, No interfering with freedom of speech in parliament, No penalty for a citizen who petitions the king about grievances.

After the year 1688, no British monarch could rule without the consent of Parliament, but Parliament could not rule without the consent of the British monarch. If they disagreed on something then the whole government would be at a pause. To fix this conflict, there was the development of a group of government ministers, or officials, called the Cabinet. These ministers became the link between the monarch and Parliament. 

The Rise of Absolutism

Isabella and Ferdinand were both absolute and led Spain. When both Ferdinand and Isabella went into rule they unified Spain which was possibly their biggest accomplishment. Both Ferdinand and Isabella were said to be powerful and efficient leaders and they changed Spain from what it had originally been. It was originally in a confused state, nothing made sense. But when these two came into rule the unification of Spain began and they altered it making it much more successful than before. They created the Spanish inquisition in which they used this for a bad situation. It did not go well because it was made to get rid of Muslims and Jews. Ferdinand and Isabella were both well educated and had a couple of talents and when they had faced something in their lives, they were strong and pushed through showing how strong and phenomenal they both were as leaders.

Activist Groups Today

Activist groups constantly are protesting to be noticed and ask for change in what people (leaders) do. Activists do what they need to prove their point and won’t give up until noticed. There are a lot of activist groups, some popular would be Climate Change activists, Ethnicity activist, etc. One activist group that I find most interesting that seems less talked about is Electronic Privacy Groups. There are four different ones.

1. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
2. Center of Democracy & Technology (CDT)
3. Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
4. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC)

Goal Of Electronic Privacy Groups

All four of these Electronic Privacy groups have one thing in common. To protect private information from hackers so people can be safe. Many hackers today can commit identity theft and many other things. In such serious cases, hackers can find your location and can blackmail you or even SWAT you! These groups fight for the protection of people on the internet, most hackers will just steal your credit card information and spend money to put you in debt.

How Do Actions of People Influence Leadership?

Actions of people can leave an impact on others, influencing them to support or follow what they were influenced by. These activists groups persuade and influence people to support their cause. This shows a great amount of leadership. These influences make people want to follow you and with that comes great leadership, and most people have peaceful protests. Not physically fighting and peacefully getting noticed and having people follow you creates an even bigger community in that specific activist group showing a great immense of leadership.

My Plan

My plan is to inform people that these advertisements they get online are very important and not something that should be ignored. That much ignorance can lead to very damaging consequences. Hackers can grab your personal information and abuse that power to create chaos and could possibly blackmail you or cause you to go into debt. People need to listen and be safe on the internet in order to not only protect themselves but to protect their families from harm’s way. There are advertisements that are warning people to protect their information online. While there are advertisements like this, there are some that can be scams. Same if you got a phone call from an unknown caller or get an email if someone asks for your information hang up, it’s most likely a scam. If you get an email asking for the same thing OR says you won something for free it’s a scam. I you didn’t sign up for anything to win a reward don’t trust it, or if it looks to good to be true, ignore it.

The 2020 Election

Like every election year, Americans vote for their president of the United States of America. Every four years Americans pick who they think the best leader would be and there are two sides. The Republican and the Democratic side. Donald Trump is on the Republican side while Biden is on the democratic side. Election years are known to be very frustrating years due to the debate on the presidential leader and with election year came Covid-19 creating even more frustration and stress to daily American life.

My Thinking On Who Will Win

I think Joe Biden will win the 2020 election. I think this due to the fact the Biden currently has more electoral votes than Trump. Biden currently/recently had 216 votes while Trump had 125. Obviously, Donald Trump could catch back up and maybe even get higher but there’s a very slim chance of that happening. “I represent all of you, whether you voted for me or against me. And I’m going to make sure you’re represented.” – Biden. This quote show’s how much Biden cares for American citizens no matter who they voted for and he will support and represent them. This was a very memorable quote as it shows how much he cares for his people and during this pandemic that can have a huge impact on the United States.

Trumps and Joe’s Thoughts On Covid

Trump and Biden have been debating for a while now and the pandemic has been brought up quite a few times in their arguments. Trump and Biden both think differently on how to worry and deal with the troublesome virus. “We’re fighting it and we’re fighting it hard… We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away.”– Trump. This quote had definitely been a reason why Trump’s votes are so low. He tells his people that he thinks it’s going to go away soon when millions of Americans have been infected and the virus continues to surge. I think of this quote as a trick for false hope. He hasn’t done much against the virus and is honestly lucky to be one of the fellow Americans to live on to this day. While Biden on the other hand shows his commitment towards defeating the coronavirus and other common problems.

Joe Biden’s Popular Quotes

Joe Biden has made claims that seem hard to challenge, Biden has shown that he is determined to help the people and terminate the virus, lower gas emissions, and help to solve other economic issues to the best of his ability. Here is a Covid 19 argument from the Biden, “If you hear nothing else I say tonight to hear this … Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of United States of America.” This is a very hard-hitting quote because while Trump was president he didn’t really do anything to challenge covid, he would only say it’s going away. A quote to back this up, “This is the same fellow told you this is going to end by Easter last time. This is the same fellow who told you that, don’t worry, we’re going to end this by the summer. We’re about to go into a dark winter, a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.”

Why I Think Biden Will Win

I think Biden will win due to the fact that he has changed many Americans’ ideas with what he has said. He’s telling people and showing them how careless Trump is about his own people. Biden is still in the lead and he looking forward to leading our country and defeating our common economic issues so we can live safer lives. Trump’s ignorance on the Coronavirus is worrisome and Biden made a good point, with the quote, “He says … we’re learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it.” It shows Trump’s lack of care for the Covid and he seems to not care for our other economic issues, he likes being president so he can have power. So who do you think will win?

By: Brodie Billingsley

The “Most Dangerous Game”

The story, “Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, is about a hunter named Rainsford being hunted down by a man named General Zaroff. Zaroff decides to hunt humans because of what he would call, “small game.” He’s bored of hunting “small game” (cougars, deer, etc) and needs a more challenging prey. Humans. Rainsford, an intelligent man, is all about instinct on survival and has plenty of knowledge about hunting making him the most dangerous game.

“What happens in the brain when we feel fear”

In the short article, “What happens in the brain when we feel fear” by Arash Javanbakht and Linda Saab, it’s about the experience of fear and how the brain handles fear depending on the situation. TRUE fear is the experience of an unpleasant emotion with the general knowledge that something or someone around you is dangerous or life-threatening. Everyone experiences fear and with fear our brain reacts and forces our reactions due to the unpleasant feeling.

The Relation Between The Two Articles

The information of This article relates to “Most Dangerous Game” because it demonstrates Rainsford and the fear he experiences while being hunted by General Zaroff. Rainsford experiences the fear of being killed and calms himself down so that he can think and react the way he needs to in order to survive. When in a dangerous situation the brain recalls what is happening and parts of the brain decide what’s going on and the intensity of the situation. The brain springs into action when given clear warning signs or after recalling the situation. Fear is known to be a very hard emotion to overcome, this is why people face their fears. They push themselves past comfort to be able to have control of the situation.

Fears importance

Fear is what is needed to be human, every human is scared of something whether they say it or not. We have a whole month just dedicated to fear! Halloween.

By: Brodie Billingsley

Martin Luther and the Church

Martin Luther played an important role in history, he is the one who led to the freedom of chosen religion. The Catholic Church was the ruler over Europe and the Church basically scammed people. Martin Luther believed the church was corrupt due to the selling of indulgences. The Church was in power and tricked people into believing their practices and murdered those who challenged the Church. Martin Luther was the one successful person the challenge the Church and win due to the printing press. Martin got other people to join him in his battle and there are two groups, the protestant and the Catholic Church. The reformation caused impacts on our present lives today, people stand out today and argue for what they believe is correct and correcting the wrong.

Causes of The Reformation

The reformation was caused by Martin and his beliefs, he believed the church was corrupted; selling indulgences, abusing power, etc. Martin Luther influenced people to join in and challenge the church. The cause led to a division. The division was between the Catholic Church and the Protestants, the split caused a “war.” The Reformation was also caused by different beliefs in religion, Martin justified that the Catholic church wasn’t using certain political practices and was basically scamming people for their money. Martin challenged the Church in order to make the changes that needed to be made, the selling of indulgences was one of the biggest motivations for the reformation. Martin knew it was unfair and a lie and that the Church would do what was not needed and did what was unfair.

Impacts of the Reformation

The different religious beliefs led to a break in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church and the protestant sides went against each other, but the protestants side one due to the printing press. The printing press was a machine used for printing text and or images. The protestants used the printing press to their advantage and used it to argue and prove a point. Europe became divided between territory which was split between protestants and the Church. The Reformation led to modern democracy and different modern values. The Reformation led to changes in religion, Christianity split into different groups and people decided their own religion. Martin used the printing press to better spread information to people and to get them to aid him to win against the church and with the printing press, he was able to do more by spreading papers through Europe.

In Todays World

Today there is a debate on the new novel coronavirus. Covid-19 has been on the rise every since December of 2019, and there is yet to be a vaccine. There have been many discussions about the vaccine and whether it should mandatory or not and people in the past have used their religion as an excuse for exemption from vaccines for viruses such as the Flu. Covid has taken its toll on the United States and throughout the world and continues to thrive infected over millions of people. This relates so much to the reformation, just without the printing press. They believe that their religion affects what they do and the amount of power they have. People are going to argue that their religion aids them in not getting a vaccine in which is an appropriate response for exemption. Although, people still might be forced to get vaccines if given a specific job opportunity completely ignoring the citizen’s right to decline vaccination programs.

Resources:

Everyone has a zodiac sign and a zodiac sign can be used to define a person. My zodiac sign is a Taurus, each zodiac is unique and contains different traits whether they be strengths or weaknesses. Each person contains different traits but the general amount of people with a zodiac sign will have specific traits contained to the description of their sign. Taurus is a loving sign, best known for being stubborn but strong-willed. Here are a couple traits of the Taurus.

1. Kind (Strength)

Kindness is a really common trait for most Taurus’s, Taurus’s are known for being kind and I find this more of a weakness than a strength. I feel like the amount of kindness shown can be used as an advantage for other people/zodiac signs. Taurus’s are commonly kind and don’t try to cause problems with other people because they are usually really peaceful. With this kindness comes loyalty, Taurus’s do what they can to be kind and help others in need of help. Taurus’s don’t necessarily like to be sided with people they don’t know or like but they would rather be neutral so no problems are created in the future. They’re kind and will give help to anyone who needs it.

2. Stubborn (Weakness)

Taurus’s are known for being stubborn which is easy to figure out due to the sign being a bull (Taurus). Taurus’s are wise, smart, and are caring but are very stubborn. They stick to their belief and will do anything to not change their answer, Taurus’s don’t like changes, it confuses and stresses them out so they keep it as simple as they possibly can. They will disagree and stay to themselves whether it be over a debate or a lifestyle. Taurus’s like to stick to their belief no matter what is said making it completely useless arguing with one. This can create problems, which is why it is considered a weakness. Being proven wrong can have negative effects on a Taurus emotionally. This can make them angry, stressed, and embarrassed.

3. Lazy (Weakness)

Taurus’s do like work and are known for enjoying hands-on activities but they never crave both for work and a break. It’s always one or the other, but when a Taurus decides for a break, it becomes decently hard to motivate yourself to what needs to be done. They enjoy relaxing and enjoying life so it becomes hard to be snapped out of that current mindset and focus on work. Although Taurus’s are known to be active in their work and common activities, they still have a very lazy side to them and will struggle to do what is needed to be done.

4. Trustworthy (Strength)

Again, Taurus’s are known for being loyal and they are known as caring individuals which makes it easier to trust them. When they meet someone they like, they become “attached” to that person and do anything to make that specific person happy. As long as you are friendly to a Taurus and makes it easier to trust them because they can show that they truly care about what you’re saying and wouldn’t betray you. Taurus’s love people who are open to them and who can trust them and with the general kindness that comes with being a Taurus, it gives an advantage and makes it harder to not trust them.

5. Possessive (Weakness)

Taurus’s are really possessive over things they care about, whether it be an object or a person. I consider this a weakness but jealousy plays a role in this. Taurus’s can get jealous very easily and will be protective of something whether it be a partner or something they care about. They become possessive over people because they are known to be loyal, caring, and gifting. They do what is needed to make their partner happy which can lead to them being really protective and it could get out of hand. It does show a sign that they truly care about you and just wants you to know that they will be there.

Every sign has its own uniqueness and Taurus is the sign of a loving person who can be easily provoked. Many other signs have different traits and each sign has its strongest trait, different from the others. Maybe if you meet a Taurus this could help you understand them better in the future!