Yom Kippur Oct 2011

Yom Kippur is the major Jewish holiday. Yom Kippur takes place on Friday, October seventh. The Jewish community believes it to be the day that God will judge them. It is the Day of Atonement for most Jewish people. It falls in the month of Tirshrei, which is in September or October. This holiday mark the ten days of Awe, which is a period of introspection and repentance. This follows the Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashanah.

Yom Kippur is also called Yom HaDin. This day is starts a twenty-five hour fast. This starts before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur, and ends after night fall on Yom Kippur. A person cannot eat or drinking, not even water. The Jewish community does this to become more like spirits, and less like animals. Jews believe that eating and drinking make people more like animals. They believe that people can focus more on God if they do not worry about their needs for the day. Children under the age of nine are not allowed to fast, along with pregnant women, women who just gave birth, and people who are suffering from a life-threatening illness. Children under the age of twelve are allowed to take part in it, but are encouraged to eat less.

This day is the day that Jewish People believe ask for forgiveness from God and people that they have hurt. The ten days leading up to Yom Kippur are the Ten Days of Repentance. This is the time to seek out the people they have offended and ask for their forgiveness sincerely. A very important part of the repentance part of Yom Kippur is called teshvah. This is where a person asks God for forgiveness. Jewish people believe that a person can only be forgiven from God on Yom Kippur. This is the day that the Jews believe God will judge everyone.

The last major part of Yom Kippur is prayer. The Yom Kippur is the longest synagogue service in the Jewish year. This service starts in the morning and ends at nightfall. Many prayers are said through the service but one is the major one that is said is Al Khet. It is a prayer asking for forgiveness for the sins that the person has committed in the year. Jewish people have different conception on their sins. They believe that the everyday offences, such as hurting people we love, lying to our self and using foul language, is what is truly sinful. While reciting the pray, people beat their sins against their chest as each sin is mentioned. Every sin is plural because Jewish traditions teach that every Jewish person should have the same responsibility for the actions of other Jews. When the Jewish person comes back for the afternoon service, they read a portion on the Book of Jonah. This is read to remember God’s willingness to forgive people who are truly sorry. The end of the service is called Ne’ilah or Shutting. The name is from the imagery of the Ne’ilah prayers. They talk about the gates being shut against the Jewish people. The Jewish people pray intensely during this, hoping to be able to get into God’s presence before these gates have been shut.

Blood Drive Feb 2012

Every year, BBCHS has two blood drives: one in October, and one in February. Students have to be sixteen to donate, with a parental permission form. Students who are seventeen or older do not need parental permission. In October, BBCHS donated one hundred units of blood. Our goal for this blood drive is to donate more than the October blood drive.

Before the student gives blood, they should sleep for at least eight hours, eat a healthy breakfast and/or lunch, and drink a few glasses of water. If student drinks water ten to thirty minutes before donating, then they will be less likely to become dizzy or faint after the donation. After donating, students sit and relax in a refreshment area for fifteen minutes or so. There the students will be given water and a snack. If the student still feels lightheaded or is dizzy, then they will stay for longer until they feel better.

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood, according to Red Cross. More than thirty-eight thousand donations are needed every day. The most common blood type needed is Type O. Forty-five percent of people have O type blood, positive and negative. Type O-negative blood can be used with all types of blood, is always in demand and is often in short supply. Fifteen million units of blood are donated each year in the U.S., eight million people donate, and four point nine million people receive blood. Only three percent of people have AB-positive blood, which is the universal blood and is most often used in emergencies, newborns and for patients requiring massive transfusions.

The donating process is a safe process and the actual blood donation only takes ten to twelve minutes. After checking in, students then get a mini-physical, where the nurses check temperature, blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin, to make sure the donor is healthy. Roughly one pint of blood is taken, while a human usually has ten. Donors can donate every fifty-six days, or one hundred and twelve if the donor gives double blood. The blood is tested afterwards for HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, and other infectious diseases. The donated blood must be used within forty-two days. Less than thirty-eight people in the U.S. are able to give blood. In 2006, sixteen million blood donations were collected, nine-point-five million people donated, and five million patients received donated blood.

The main two reasons people don’t donate are that they have never thought about it and that they don’t like needles. One donation can help save up to three people lives. If all students donated from the age of seventeen and donated every fifty-six days till they were seventy-six, the student would have donated forty-eight gallons of blood, which could possibly save more than one thousand lives. Nineteen percent of donors donate occasionally, thirty-one percent are first-time donors, and fifty percent are regular donors. Blood cannot be manufactured; it can only be obtained from people who donate.

It is a great feeling to give blood and is a good way to give a lending hand. Giving blood is one of the only ways students can help the country while at school, and the students get out of a class.

60's Cartoons vs Todays

Wikipedia says that a cartoon show is an animated cartoon that is short, hand drawn film for television, featuring some kind of story or plot. Cartoons are something everyone can remember watching as a baby and child, and we are to believe that they have devolved and made to be better trough the years. Today’s cartoons are becoming atrocious, dreadful, abominable, irritating and the list could go on. These “cartoons” are making kid get lower test scores. Compare the “cartoons” of today to the ones of the 60’s and you will have a great difference.

In 1960 cartoons were funny and fun to watch. They also didn’t make kids get lower test scores. These cartoons actually had plot to them and had good characters. Some of the classic 60 cartoons are Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Felix the Cat and the original Scooby Doo. These cartoons were magical and could make a kid laugh. 60’s cartoons have great jokes and make the audience laugh and the cartoon companies need to bring them back onto television. Scooby Doo has been around since 1969 and the show is still on today. The voices are changed, but the show is still great. The show has had eleven series, twenty-three seasons, and two hundred and ninety-eight episodes. Scooby Doo is one of the show that will be around for a long time and will stay great. The Jetsons was not on television for long but it was still a great show. The show was about a family in the twenty-first century. Most of the top cartoons from the 60’s were not on the air for long, but had greater plots, characters and jokes then most of he cartoons on today.

Today’s “cartoons” are one of the worst things to watch. They have horrible characters, no plots, and they look like a five year old colored them. Shows like Adventure Time, SpongeBob Squarepants, The Amazing World of Gumball, Regular Show, The Fairly Odd Parents and Fanboy and Chum Chum are a few of the atrocious shows. These shows are pointless and can’t make a funny joke. In Adventure Time, you have a twelve year old boy, Finn, and his dog, Jake. They try and have adventures and learn something, but the only thing that happens is an awful show. Fanboy and Chum Chum are just two little kids that do not do anything except try and be superheroes. These cartoons are atrocious and need to be removed from the brains of every child, teen and adult that has seen them. They need to be in cartoon jail and stay there until the world ends.

60’s cartoons will never fade and will always be around in some way. They are the better cartoons and the producers of today’s cartoons need to fired. Today’s cartoons will make children and teen get lower test scored and make them lose their brain cells.

Haunted Houses (Oct 2011)

October is the time to dress up like a character from your favorite television show, or a scary creature. One of the great things about Halloween is Haunted Houses. There are five great Haunted Houses in the Chicago area that no one would want to miss.

The closest two are the ABYSS Haunted House and the Statesville Haunted Prison. They are both about an hour drive from Bradley. The ABYSS Haunted House is described, as “darkness, long forgotten, unleashed deep within the bowels of the earth an unspeakable portal to horror so deep and black, it is known only as the ABYSS.” The ABYSS is open on Thursday- Sunday. Fridays and Saturdays seven until eleven pm, and Thursday and Sundays seven until ten PM. The cost is seventeen dollars to get in, and tickets can be purchased at the door. The Statesville Haunted Prison is known for their prisoners taking visitors to go see the underbelly of the house of Evil. There costumers will encounter over two hundred of the most dangerous monsters ever imprisoned. The Statesville Haunted Prison has been rated/voted number one by Haunted House Chicago. The cost is thirty dollars for general admission, and forty for VIP; tickets can be purchased at the door. They are open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays seven until ten. On Fridays and Saturdays, they are open from seven till eleven. The prison will be open all October and the fifth and sixth of November.

The next closest is the Haunted Mansion and Asylum 13. It is one hour and ten minutes away, in Bolingbrook. The Asylum has thirteen rooms to hold the souls of thirteen of histories most demented people. The Mansion will make prisoners feel right at home. You will never know what or who is around the corner or in the next room. There is also The Vortex and the Cage Maze. The Haunted Mansion and Asylum 13 is open all of October. Admission is twenty dollars for general admission, twenty-five for VIP online, and thirty-five for VIP at the door. The Mansion and Asylum is open from six to ten on Thursday and Sunday, and from six until eleven on Friday and Saturday.

The MASSACRE Haunted House is one hour and twenty-two minutes away. The Massacre Haunted House is over fifteen thousand square feet of nightmares. It has over thirty-five rooms, where forty ghastly clad actors are waiting to scare and delight visitors. It is open on Thursdays through Sundays, and on Monday, October thirty-first. It costs twenty for the Massacre only, twenty-three for the Massacre and the Fear Factory 3-D, thirty-five for VIP for both. When you are done with the haunting, the Massacre Haunted House is contacted to the Odyssey Fun World, where there is over two hundred arcade game.

Presidential Candidates 2012

The voting for the 2012 President is on November 6th and, for most seniors it will be, the first election they will be able to vote in. For this reason, the seniors and teachers who can vote should know who they will vote for to be the next president. There are four main Republican candidates that people need to keep their eye on. They are in the race to become the next Republican candidate for the presidential election.

Mitt Romney is the man presently in lead and is the one who will not back down. Romney was the Governor of Massachusetts. According to 2012.presidential-candidates.org he is Mormon, sixty-four, and has a background in politics and business. Romney wants to ban same-sex marriages, doesn’t support immigrant amnesty, is against stem cell research, wants to outlaw medical marijuana, and will allow death penalty sentence. He wants to bring the troops home as soon as possible. He is pro-life, but would allow states to make their own laws on abortion. He feels that there needs to be a revamp of the education system. He feels that parents, the federal, government, the state, and teachers, should be involved in the education process. Romney doesn’t want prayer or religion in school; he wants schools to teach the importance of the economy and family value. For the economy, Romney wants to make ten major actions on the first day if he is elected. Some of these actions would consist of five bills and five executive orders. The five bills would be about reducing the corporate income tax rate, making free trade with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, merging federal retraining programs, and making cuts non-security discretionary. Some of the executive orders would make the Secretary of Health and Human Services return to the authority of the states, and all agencies eliminating the regulations that made problems to the economy and to job creation.

Newt Gingrich was a speaker of the House Chairman for 3 years, is a Christian, is sixty-eight and studied politics. Gingrich wants to ban same-sex marriage, allow death penalty sentence, outlaw medical marijuana, and is against stem cell research. Gingrich believes that schools focus on patriotic education instead of multiculturalism. He wants to bring back school prayer and wants to reward high school girls who graduate as virgins. As for the national budget, Gringrich says that he would be able to balance the national budget in five years after taking office. Gringrich will help the economy with a five-point plan. Some of the aspects would be taking out the National Labor Relations Board, replacing the Environmental Protection Agency, and limiting unemployment benefits to maximum of four weeks. He to wants to remove regulations on corporations to create jobs.

Rick Santorum was a U.S. Pennsylvania senator and the eightieth District Representative. He is a Roman Catholic, fifty-three, and studied politics and law. Santorum wants to ban same-sex marriage, will allow the death penalty sentence, outlaw medical marijuana, and is against stem cell research. He wants to have an abstinence only education and wants pray in school. As for the economy, Santorum wants to reduce the size of the government by retuning it to 18 %, cap future spending and pass a balanced budget amendment. Santorum wants to cut the corporate tax rate in half, and take away the death tax.

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine’s Day is a day when couples go out and celebrate their love. It is the time for flowers, candy, and red and pink hearts over the city, but it is only a great holiday if you have someone to share it with. Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year where the all the single people feel bad that they are single. For single people, Valentine’s Day is actually Single Awareness Day, or SAD for short. If you are single, get a group of your closest friends, go out to dinner and have a girl’s night out. Don’t let anyone talk about boys, boyfriends, or complain that they are single. If you don’t want to go out, have a girl’s night in. Have ice cream, cookies and other comfort food.

Instead of going out and watching Valentine’s Day movie, plan an anti-Valentine’s Day party. Get a bunch of black shirts, fabric paint and fabric markers and have the guests decorate the shirts with slogans that encourage independence, make a mixed CD with songs about being alone and independent, and serve broken heart shaped cookies. Some good songs are “I Will Survive” and “Love Stinks.” Guests can also make “voodoo dolls” of their ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends and then have some fun with them, such as throwing them in the air or out the window.

People who love the idea of Valentine’s Day go completely out and wear all pink, draw hearts and day dream about what their dates are planning. While on the other side, people who can’t stand Valentine’s Day don’t talk about anything dealing with the “holiday.” What people need to realize is that Valentine’s Day was created by the card and candy companies so they would increase their profits.

Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be there to make couples feel happy and single people sad. Make plans with a group of friends and have a great day that isn’t just about love.

Winter Ball 2012

Dances are an event in the school year when students can get dressed up and not think about school, work or family. It is a great time to spend with friends and that special someone. Winter Ball is the dance when the girls can ask the guys to the dance; so girls: do not be afraid to ask that special guy to the dance. Winter Ball is a great dance to forget about last semester and think about what colors the girls should wear. Guys, this is the time to make sure your date will not make you wear a color you hate.

Winter Ball is the year’s second dance at BBCHS. The dance theme this year is “Someone Like You,” based on the popular Adele song.

For freshmen and sophomores, this is the last dance of the year, and for juniors and seniors, this is the dance leading to prom. The BBCHS student council helps pick the theme and helps run this dance along with their supervisors, Mrs. Fightmaster and Ms. Greene.

Winter Ball will be on February eleventh at seven PM until ten PM. The dance will be at the Quality Inn in Bradley. While the dance is at a hotel, like every year, no student will be allowed to rent a hotel room before or after the dance. Ticket sales go on sale on January thirtieth to February fourth. The tickets are twenty-five dollars each and are cash only. The date request forms are located in SAO office and can be picked up at any time.

Senior boys are able to petition to be on the Winter Ball court. The court petitions are available on January twenty-third and are due on February third by three o’clock. The senior vote for Winter Ball court is on February sixth at ten till two. Voting will be done during all study halls and will be at the library. Senior boys will need to get signatures for their petitions.

Winter Ball is a great way to get into long dresses and natural colors. Great colors for girls to wear are cool and clear, and can be dark or light. Purple, grey and neutral colors are great for winter. Dresses for Winter Ball should be long and a calm color. Girls, make sure your date won’t hate the color you are going in and make sure it goes good with your skin tone and hair color. Guys make sure to get your dress clothes early, and not at the last minute. Last minute dress clothes are sloppy and can make the prettiest dress look bad. Make sure to get a corsage that matches the girls dress.

Winter Ball can be a great time for everyone, so make sure to have a great time at the dance and do not get in to trouble. Make the dance a fun and safe time for everyone. Dances are a great way to make memoires with your friends and spend time with them.