Podcast

Show: Presidential break and its effect on the people.
Show Length: 9 minutes.
Episode1: Topic: Beautiful Lebanon.
Intro Music Clip: Title: O Beautiful Lebanon! Minutes: 1minute.
Intro: The pretty Lebanon. Minutes: 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Lebanon is a little beautiful country. It allows you to enjoy the beach and the mountains within one hour time difference. The people there are so generous and modernized. Not only that, but some of the genius persons come from Lebanon. But our government does not make the opportunities for geniuses to stay. Instead, they search other countries where they can be honored and welcomed. Lebanon is characterized by its touristic nature for what it offers from beauty and generosity.

Segment Music Clip: Title: Sad You Lebanon?! Minutes: 1 minute.
Segment: Nine Month without a President. Minutes: 3 minutes.
Our country is rich in waterfalls, rivers, beach areas, mountains as well as the beautiful climate, which makes it a touristic place for the surrounding countries and others willing to discover its nature. Tourism is the main profit for restaurants, pool areas, hotels and parks. Even though, no money is left in the treasury. Our government takes the profit to spend it on its members. The minister gets out of the government three times richer.
In winter 2007, two groups were formed in the government: One that opposed the stealing policy, and another that wanted to continue this way and steal from the people. The first one wanted the president to stay. The second group was following the lead of Bush that allowed them to use weapons against the people. So many people were killed by that group called government. Finally the presidential period was over, and it was time to elect a new president. A president was elected in May of 2008, which is nine month after the deposition of the previous president.
During the nine months, restaurants and hotels closed. Most of the jobs around the country were resumed. People got laid off with no pay. Some who have five to ten children couldn’t buy bread or any kind of food. Everything became expensive; food, clothing, gas and even gold. People demonstrated in front of the capital, demanding for their rights to elect a new government and live in peace.

End of Segment Music Clip: Title: Lebanon will be rebuilt; Lebanon will be rebuilt.
Minutes: 1 minute.
Ending: People will rebuild Lebanon. Minutes: 1minute.
So sad for the people, with a president or without, have to rebuilt the country themselves with no government who cares about them. The people will have to start a new life from scratch, and will be the one who organize everything around from traffic to economy, while the government cares about collecting the grants and spending them on their interests.

Lebanon is a little beautiful country. It allows you to enjoy the beach and the mountains within one hour time difference. The people there are so generous and modernized. Not only that, but some of the genius persons come from Lebanon. But our government does not make the opportunities for geniuses to stay. Instead, they search other countries where they can be honored and welcomed.
What can one say about such government? It accepts criticism for its democratic nature, unlike other governments. But this government can offer nothing to its people and land. For long decades, people in Lebanon lived depending on the help coming from the first immigrants in Brazil. Statistically, Lebanese people are in majority seniors. There is no room and not enough food for the young. From the day you are born, migration is destined.
Our country is rich in waterfalls, rivers, beach areas, mountains as well as the beautiful climate, which makes it a touristic place for the surrounding countries and others willing to discover its nature. A lot of its economy is based on tourism. Tourism is the main profit for restaurants, pool areas, hotels and parks. Even though, no money is left in the treasury. Our government takes it to spend it on its members. The minister gets out of the government three times richer.
In winter 2007, two groups were formed in the government: One that opposed the stealing policy, and another that wanted to continue this way and steal from the people. The first one wanted the president to stay, believing that he was a good leader that refused selling the country to strangers and wanted to save the people from hunger, especially after the massacres done by Israel in July of 2006. The second group was following the lead of Bush that allowed them to use weapons against the people. So many people were killed by that group called government. Finally the presidential period was over, and it was time to elect a new president.
The second group wanted a new president chosen by its members. Of course, the first group opposed this decision, and agreed on a new president but elected by both groups. After nine months without a president and nine months of hunger and disruption in the country, a president was elected in 25 May 2008.
During the nine months, restaurants and hotels closed. Most of the jobs around the country were resumed. People got laid off with no pay. Some who have five to ten children couldn’t buy bread or any kind of food. Countries around followed the order of Bush and cut the imports to Lebanon. Most of the imports were to come from Syria, who was oppressed by the American media being a cause for the conflict. Syria closed the borders and stopped any trade with the Lebanese, which increased the risk of hunger. Everything became expensive; food, clothing, gas and even gold.
People demonstrated in front of the capital, demanding for their rights to elect a new government and live in peace. The first resigned from the government, but the second wanted to stick to the chair and make the country a playground for them and other countries. On top of that the second group, with the prime minister on its side, raised the taxes on medications, food, utilities as well as imports and exports.
The people were so angry, but there was never a hope in a government. For decades, the government was the stealing machine. So much help came from the neighbors to help rebuilt the country after every destruction Israel made. But none got to the people. All of the grants stayed with the governors and ministers who shared the profits, and spent them on building their castles and buying European products to please their families and themselves.
So sad for the people, with a president or without, have to rebuilt the country themselves with no government who cares about them. Lebanon will be rebuilt; Lebanon will be rebuilt, as a song use to say.

extra credit

Comp 106
Extra Credit
December 14, 2008

The first thing I did was to install Second life on my computer in order to have an account and play the game. For a glance, it seemed hard to play with all the options, but I found myself discovering. I chose my character, and it was one of the ladies displayed, and I entered the community. At first I did not know how to move my character, but after a lot of search in the file and view menu, I knew how to walk, move and communicate with others.
I found myself surrounded by other people, and suddenly I hit a guy named Arnold. I said hi, but obviously he didn’t want to chat. He stood there, so I decided to discover the land. On the bridge, I met Magen. She was lost. She didn’t know where to go or what to do, obviously as in my case. I asked her if she is taking a composition class. Of course, I knew the answer. She was doing it for fun. She is a member of Life that I do not know about, and she wanted to try Second Life. We became friends. It was just like email chatting.
I wanted to know more about this game. While walking, I found myself flying off of a bridge. After an hour and by mistake I took all the hair and clothes off of my character. So I had to search how to dress it up. It was actually pretty fun to do. I chose the pants to be black, the jacket red and the shoes black with high heels. I also changed all the face and body features as well as the hair.
Each of the face, body and hair has so many details to go over. The face has the cheeks, eyebrows, nose, eyes and jaw. Each determines how you want your character to look like. My character ended up looking a lot like me, except for the eyes’ color that I did not know how to change.
While walking on that land, I found myself with two other characters, a lady and a man. The lady was running all over. She was asking how to get to another land. She said: “It is really boring down here.” She asked: “How do I get out of this stupid, boring land?” I, honestly, said: “I do not know.” The guy started talking in some kind of a weird language. I assumed that it was Japanese. The lady started running, and he continued talking to me, but I did not understand a word of what he was saying. So I ran away myself.
I tried to build a tree or something else, but I couldn’t. Error Message stated that I should buy a land. When I own a land I, therefore, could build on it. It would have been pretty awesome if I was able to build a company, house or a park for my own group. There would have been more work and no boring time. It would have made me more attached to this game.
While pressing buttons, I ran into the sit option. Overwhelmed, I tried to sit on the grass. The system wouldn’t allow me of course. I decided to walk around and see where I can sit. Until I found chairs facing the ocean, but I couldn’t sit on them, I did not know why. I walked until I got to the benches on the grass where I sat there and ended my game.
From personalizing the character, to chatting, to discovering that world, it was a challenging experience. It was a real world experience, except for the restrictions of what you can do, as there were no schools or jobs. Overall, it was good to spend some time chatting and discovering the land, like any other game. Except that it was something from everyday life.

Parking

Parking lots are a great problem in the university of Michigan-Dearborn, especially in the Casl building. If you go to park between 9:20 am and 10:30 am you won't find a free space. The same thing happens in the afternoon and precisely between 4:30 pm and 5:50 pm. It seems like during each class period the parking lot is full, and that shows that this university has more students than its parking lot can handle.
I find a lot of problems parking. I go a half an hour early to find a parking space. Even though, I wait a long time, and I don't find one. I, then, go to park in the Library's parking lot, and there I park the last. So to go to a class or two, I have to spend two class periods searching for a space to park. Not only this, but I also have to walk a very long distance from a parking lot to another and cross more than one building in order to get to the class. Imagine the case in the winter time, during the cold days and nights, where sometimes the snow is not very well cleaned and walking a long distance might is ability for you to slip. And who can walk a half mile in the windy and snowy times.
In Winter 2007, I had to go to my Math 412, and that was in a very cold morning between 9:30 and 10:30. That morning I had my first test, and I came a half an hour early in order to park my car. I waited as well as other cars. Finally, somebody came out of the Casl building, and it was my turn to park. Suddenly, another came anxious to park. I waited for parked car to come out, and there a parking space for me. But no, the other car urged parking, and it had no right. But, what can I do. I called her and she did not want to listen. She turned her back and went to her class. But, I had to wait, and ten minutes have passed from my test's time. At last, another person came to the parking lot and wanted to get out. I followed him, and another car was first, waiting for this person. I wanted to do the same thing the other girl did to me, and take the car's first right to park, but I couldn't do it. Surprisingly, the car waiting was my friend from another class. I explained to her and she gave me her parking space to go finish my test.
On my way to the class and after 15 minutes late, I walked in the cold, and I was rushing to class. When I arrived, I was 15 minutes late to a 50 minutes class, and I was really pissed off. Under the stress of failing my test, I panicked. When I received the test, and while trying to solve for the math problems, the blood started to come out of my nose. It was a lot of blood that I couldn't handle with my napkins or makes me able to solve for my test. I asked my Professor for the permission to leave the class and try to clean up. The blood continued to come out even until after class. But my Professor was nice enough to give me a make up test for the following week. It was a pretty bad experience that I can't prevent it from happening another time, and due to the parking problem we have in the Casl building.
The same problem I have parking in the Social Sciences building. If you register for a class in the Science building, you have to park in the Social Sciences parking. In the Fall or Winter semesters, you have to walk a long distance to get to class, and don't ask if you are late to class or if your legs are tired from the pressure you put into them to get as fast as you can. Don't ask if you get sick from the cold breeze or wing that slaps your face thousands of time until you get inside that door. Don't blame us if they steal your parking space anxious, just like you, to find one.
It was my first semester in the university when I took a class in the Science building. I did not know where to park, assuming that the parking lot should be next to the building. Finally, I got to the Computer Wing, and it had a tiny parking lot. It said for Faculty members. I did not know what to do, so I asked the Security guy if I can park. He said yes, and that they are not very strict about parking there. From then on, I parked there. One day, I saw a ticket on my car. I went to the security building and I asked them to waive it, because I did not know that I shouldn't park there, as the officer told me I can. They wouldn't believe me, and the angry face women told to better go and pay it. I was really pissed. Imagine that first impression I had on that school.
Our university better find a solution to this problem. It has to provide more parking spaces to the increased number of students. Three big buildings can't share the same parking lot. I wonder if they see people fighting for the parking spaces. If they actually do, why can't they find a way to make their students comfortable going to school.

In 2005, my husband and I were looking to buy a house and the thing that mostly attracted us to houses was the front and the back yards. We were looking for a house with beautiful, well maintained lawn, because we both love working around the house and spending time outside, whenever the weather permits. After moving in that spring, we started discovering things that we never knew about lawns before. We started spending more and more time at Home Depot discovering the available products that we need in order to make our front and back yard grass look nice and always green. It was then when we knew the importance of lawn fertilizers.
Lawn care has always been important to house owners. It helps in the curb appeal of the house. Taking care of the grass requires the use of fertilizers. Chemicals are the most common fertilizer people use, because it has fast results on the growth and appearance of the lawn. Gardeners have had confusion over the use of organic or chemicals. The question raised is which one makes the grass greener and healthier. Actually, the grass doesn’t recognize the difference between what is organic and what is not. It will grow as long as it finds the proper nutrients in the product applied.
Chemicals are called “synthetic fertilizers”. They are made by man into salt compound containing nitrogen, potassium, calcium and magnesium. These nutrients are very important for plant growth. Nitrogen sources such as ammonia, ammonium sulphate and urea come from the natural gas and oil industry. For the fertilizer industry, chemicals are easily provided and easily manufactured like any other product.
Chemicals have a main advantage. The nutrients found in them are immediately available for the plants and are calculated to provide the right amount needed by the grass, which helps it grow continuously thick and green. They are the fastest way to have beautiful and green yards for your children and pets to enjoy. Grass is the most important part in the curb appeal of a house, which requires the need of fast growth and insect protection products. It is easy to apply by using a spreader. You don’t have to have so many applications, because one application per month or two is enough for the lawn to grow thick, healthy and green. Insecticides products are also easy to apply. Sometimes one application a year can be enough to repel or kill many kinds of insects. Also one chemical product could have the defense against many kinds of insects, but now lawn fertilizers contain the required insecticides for the protection of the lawn, which save us time.
Chemical fertilizers also have many disadvantages to the lawn, our environment, and our health. If those products are heavily applied to our lawn, they burn its roots and kill the plant. During heavy rain they penetrate deep into the soil. As the roots are very thin and short, it makes it impossible for the plant to get the nutrients in the fertilizer or even store some. Overly applications of the manufactured fertilizers can create toxic concentration of salt in the soil, therefore chemical imbalance, which is harmful to the plant. By forming chemical imbalance, this toxic concentration kills so many insects that are good for the health of our lawn and help in the defense against other harmful insects. The toxic concentration can also evaporate and spread into the air, which affects the health of our kids and pets. We and our pets can catch the existed chemicals applied to the lawn, which can spread different diseases.
So many reasons make us think of something other than chemicals to make our lawn look pretty. Why not use organic fertilizers, as long as they have the same results of chemical fertilizers? Organic fertilizers can be found in plants, animals or their waste. They come from the manure of cows, sheep, horses and also poultry. These nutrients can also be found in the green manures coming from falling tree leaves and dead plants. Organic fertilizers have beneficial micro-organisms that speed up decomposition of trimmings. It also improves the structure of the soil. They also come from the recycled nature waste. They are not harmful to insects, pets or human.
Many people prefer chemical over organic fertilizers, because they have quicker results on the grass. As organic products have fewer nutrients, they require more applications and even more work and wasted time. Organic fertilizers are more expensive, and they are not provided in immense variety like the chemical fertilizers. Some work should be done by our government to force the production of organic fertilizers and stop that of chemicals. After all, our health and environment are more important, even if we have to put more time into lawn care.

I want to do my blog about lawn chemicals. I want to explain how lawn chemicals are good for our lawn to help it grow healthy and green, and how it helps in the curb appeal. I, then, have a necessity to use the chemicals that kill the weeds and others that kill lawn insects in order to have a beautiful appearance to my front and backyard.
In another view point, these chemicals have bad effect on our environment. They spread the pollution in the air, and they are pretty harmful to kids and pets. In my blog, I want to present the good and bad effects of lawn chemicals on ourselves, pets and environment. I will support my essay with comic pictures presented in two different ways; the good guy chemicals and the killer one.
I also search solutions to the problem of using harmful chemicals, especially to people who have kids. Why not use natural stuff such as iron and other natural nutrients for our lawn. We need those nutrients to be provided instead of the chemicals, and we want our companies to provide us with those nutrients cheaper than they are, in order for people to stop using the harmful insecticides and pesticides.