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Jacob Prunes Public Feed

Stealing Valuables

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Monday, March 25, 2019 at 10:07 pm

Jacob Prunés

Ms.Pahomov

English 2

21 March 2019

Stealing Valuables

What drives people to success? For most, it is money. People desire valuables, which drives them to reach their goal at any cost. A lot of politicians and leaders use their power and status to reach their goal. The only problem is that most leaders don't see how their ambition affects others because they are focused on goal. Determination and greed blinds leaders into using their power to take what they want, not realizing the repercussions of their actions.

Donald Trump is famous for saying, “I would just go in and take the oil,”. He says this to Matt Lauer at the Commander-in-Chief Forum. He decides it would be a better idea if they went in and took the oil without negotiating because, “We’re reimbursing ourselves … at a minimum, and I say more. We’re taking back $1.5tn to reimburse ourselves” says Trump according to Foreign Policy. This statement is referring to Donald Trump and his decision to take Middle Eastern countries oil as reimbursement. To the common people, it is blatantly stealing and illegal because you cannot take civilian goods or seize them. Donald Trump believes that because of the casualties America has faced, we need to be reimbursed for it. Trump is using his power and status to get what he wants. When a leader has the power and will to get something they want, they won't hesitate to get what they desire.

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack and his new clan need a way to make a fire for their feast. Since Jack has new power role, he decides that the best way to get what he wants is by taking it with force. When asked by his followers about how to start the fire, he states, “We shall take fire from the others.” (161). Instead of negotiating, Jack decides to use his power to overpower the other side. If Jack had asked to use the glasses than Jack and Piggy would have gladly handed over it to them. Even if there was two different sides, they still would have had a better connection if Jack had not used strength to get the glasses. When leaders have that kind of determination and strength, they would rather use that strength rather than using their head.

Moreover, a lot of people disagree with Donald Trump's reasoning and say that he is being irrational and stupid. One of the reasons people say that is because he is not thinking about how it's going to affect the other side. According to the guardian.com, Jay Hakes says, “Even our allies in the Middle East regard oil in their lands as a gift from God and the only major source of income to develop their countries. Seizing Iraq’s oil would make our current allies against Isis our new enemies.“ This shows how important oil is in these countries. By taking it, Donald Trump is depriving these countries from their most valuable material.  Donald Trump does not care about the effects or consequences from taking the most valuable resource that that nation has. This is what happens when a leader is blinded by his greed and determination to reach his goal.

Likewise, Jack steals Piggy's glasses, which causes him to be vulnerable. In the book, it says, “They blinded me. See?“(169). Now that Piggy can't see, he is no longer valuable to the group. He is now seen as a liability and now doesn't have any power. To the rest of the boys he is less and doesn't hold any power status. This is the same as the middle eastern countries. Without their oil, Iran and Iraq's economy decrease and are not seen as valuable to other countries because oil is the most valuable resource in the middle east Also, middle eastern countries view oil as sacred and special to them. This is the same as how Piggy viewed his glasses. Throughout the book, he wiped them often to keep them clean and he always made sure he had them with him. With his glasses lost, Piggy feels lost and worthless. This is another example of how a leader can be blinded by greed and doesn't see the damage of their deed.

To summarize, using power and strength to grab what you want isn't the best way to reach your goal. Negotiating with the other side not only benefits you but it improves the connection with allies and neighbors. Stronger countries love taking whats not theirs without thinking about their actions and the consequences that will eventually come.




Work Cited

Borger, Julian. “Trump's Plan to Seize Iraq's Oil: 'It's Not Stealing, We're Reimbursing Ourselves'.

The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Sept. 2016, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/21/donald-trump-iraq-war-oil-strategy-seizure-isis.

Friedersdorf, Conor. “Trump's Speech to the CIA Made America Less Safe.” The Atlantic, Atlantic

Media Company, 24 Apr. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/in-seconds-at-the-cia-trump-made-america-less-safe/514193/.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006.

Klare, Michael T. “Trump Wants to Steal Middle East Oil, and He's Not Alone.” Foreign Policy,

Foreign Policy, 13 Oct. 2016, foreignpolicy.com/2016/10/13/trump-wants-to-steal-middle-east-oil-and-hes-not-alone-iraq-war-elections/.









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Superstar

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Thursday, November 8, 2018 at 7:19 pm

Superstar


“Yeah yeah I’m ready for the finals coming up.”

“You already know Ima hoop.”

“Shoot, Ima try to get drafted to the Lakers with my man Lebron.”

“Alright, see Y'all later.”

I’m the best basketball player in my grade, on the East Coast. If anyone tries to 1v1 me… they’re getting dropped. Not even my friends can stick me. My friends are great though. They’ve been supporting in my many years of hoopen’. They’ve been by my side every step of the way and I trust them to the end. And I hardly keep secrets from them. I’ve only kept one secret from them and it’s a secret that ruined my reputation as the best. It’s really funny how I thought I was going somewhere. I thought I could provide for my mom and my brother.  And I don’t know, maybe buy them a house in one of those rich white people neighborhood. It’s kinda funny how salty I was feeling when I got the news from the doctor. I was all like, “I’m the best, I’m going to be in the NBA and be an All-Star.” But then I started to have major heart pains whenever I started playing in games and scrimmages.


My dream was shot down in a matter of 3 words. “You have carditis.”


Apparently, that’s when you have inflammation in your heart. At first, when I heard this I was like, “Oh that stinks.” With very little worry. And so this man just kept on rambling and rambling about the conditions until finally, he said the words that I still hear when I sleep. “You most likely will not ever have a career in any sport, because at any moment, you could drop dead.”


Now when he said this... I…I almost punched him. Does he not know who I am??? I’m Sharod Christopher Smith-Jackson III, and I am going to be the best basketball player in the world!


My mother kept trying to say that it was going to be alright and how I didn’t have to be a basketball player to make her proud. I knew she was right but I didn’t want to admit it. And I for sho, can’t tell my friends. When they find out I can’t play ball, how will they react? I know it’s kinda sad but it’s one of the one things that we have in common. And now what I am supposed to now. Be a computer nerd? I don’t think so. This heart condition is my life, now, but so is basketball. I don’t want that to change. But it was already too late. My “wonderful” mother signed me up for a computer programming club. Mom really drove me all the way there just to make sure I went. I stepped up to the door and went in. I waited a couple seconds and peeked out the door but she was still there. So I gave up and went inside. Now to my friends, I had a reputation as a good basketball player but I didn’t realize I had a reputation to everyone else because when I walked in everyone stared at me like I came from Mars. And I as soon as I sit down they all kinda lean away and I hear a few scoots from chairs, as they try to get a little farther away from me. I could tell they weren’t fond about a “jock” going into their computer lab. The teacher, Mr. Matthews, came over and explained all about computer programming and what it can be used for. It was super boring at first. I mean how could it be compared to basketball. But as I looked around the room, I saw how cool it was. There were robots moving, and video games being made, and for the first time in a while… I smiled. This was something I could do. So when I got home I did my research and learned by myself the different coding languages. I finally told my “friends” about my condition and computer programming and they didn’t say much. So now I am completely focused on computer programming and I am top of my class. And that’s why I would really appreciate if you gave me this opportunity to show you what I can do for this company because my mom was right...I don’t need to be a superstar.
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The House of the Scorpion Emulation

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 9:11 am
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Racial Profiling

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at 9:04 am

Jacob Prunés

Pahomov

English 2- systems

9/21/18



I had just left the youth program and was waiting for my parents to pick up my older sister and I. We were outside trying to find our parents but couldn't see the car because it was extremely dark. We decided that they must be down the alley around the corner because we couldn’t find them.

When we went around the corner and was walking, we saw a very bright light. My sister and I think it’s a car light so we jogged back to the house we were staying in because the alleyway is very narrow. I noticed that it was only one light instead of the usual two, but it didn’t think anything of it. While we waited for the car to pass we realized it isn’t a car but a bike with an extremely bright headlight. The man on the bike was going slow and then he stopped in front of us.

“What are you guys doing here?”, he asks

We weren’t really sure what he meant because it’s such a strange question to ask.

“We are just coming back from a youth group.” my sister says.

“Show me, prove it. Go knock on their door.” the man says.

That’s when I finally realize that he doesn’t trust or believe us.

“Why were you guys running away?” he asked

“I thought you were a car, your light is very bright.” I said, now getting angry that this man stopped us because we were “running.”

He then made a noise that says, “yeah right!” and biked away.

My sister and I just stood there angry and annoyed. It then goes through my head that this man was racially profiling us because we were in Germantown, a mostly white neighborhood. We hadn’t done anything wrong, but the way he was talking about us made it seem like we did. I don’t like to get involved in situations so I just call my parents to find out where they are.

We finally find their car and we climb in.

“How was it? Did you have a good time?” My mom asked.

“Well, it was good until now.”, my sister says, starting to tear up.

My parents ask what's wrong. She then explains the whole story to them, about how we were racially profiled. Now, my mom is not shy or calm in these situations, especially when it comes to her kids. She instantly hops out the car, slamming the door behind her, and goes up to the man, who turns out to be the neighbor of the house we were in. We can’t really hear what’s going on and we couldn’t see very well because it was still dark but when my mom comes back she explains what happened.

When she confronted him she tells him what he did. He obviously didn’t think he did anything wrong and doesn’t really care what my mom was saying.

After she stops talking the man said, “Well, why were they running.”

So my mom explains about the flashlight on his bike.

“What flashlight?” He asked, which is ridiculous because his flashlight was almost brighter than the sun.

“That one!” She exclaims, pointing to the light on his bike. “My kids felt very uncomfortable.”

“I did too,” he said, pretending that he was the victim.

Seeing that he doesn’t care or really know what he did, my mom heads back to the car. When she tells me what happened, I get very upset about the bull**** I just heard. Eventually, we drive away after we talk to the family that we were with.

This was the first time I have ever seen blatant racism and racial profiling, first hand. I knew that people thought that way but I couldn’t comprehend that it could happen to me too. This moment really changed how I see the world. This moment shouldn’t happen to anyone. This needs to stop. I just hope one day I can walk through an alleyway with not a worry in my mind.


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Helping College students

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Friday, May 18, 2018 at 9:14 pm

Helping college students

Blog Post 2 Blog post 1


For my You and the World project my goal is to help college students pay their very expensive college fees. In my last 2 post, I talked about the expense of college, why it’s expensive, and ways we can make it cheaper. I’m hoping that with these post you can understand the problem with colleges. It’s important because lots of people want to go to college and get a good education but can’t because of fees.


My check to drexel


Drexel University

Main Building





This post is about how I contributed in helping this cause. For my Agent of Change, my goal was to obtain money and the give it to a scholarship fund. This will help future college students because it means that colleges can give more scholarships to students which means cheaper tuition for more students. To get the money, I have worked in different jobs in my neighborhood for friends and family. I have mowed lawns, babysat, and more. I have raised $105.

This will all go to Drexel University because the tuition there is really expensive. It’s one of the most expensive colleges in Philadelphia. Donating to a scholarship fund isn’t hard. If you want to support the cause this is a way you can do it.

I decided to obtain money this way instead of a fundraiser because working more than likely gets you more money than a fundraiser. I did still tell friends and family about the cause. My experience was excellent because I was gaining a lot of money and I knew it was going to a good cause. I was effective in making a change because I helped pay for a scholarship that will go to a future college student that might be struggling to pay the fees. With my small donation, I can make a big difference in someone’s life.

I really enjoyed this project. I enjoyed it because it helps me, a simple person, be able to call out a problem with the world and make a difference. I learned that anyone can help others and feel as good as I feel now. I also learned that anyone can have that feeling. I feel like I could have done a better job getting this issue out to everyone. My goal wasn’t awareness, it was helping and I feel like I should have done both. If I were to do it again, and I might, then I would definitely make it more public to everyone. Whether it’s posters or social media. Just because this project is over, doesn’t mean I’m done helping and it doesn’t mean you should forget this project. Anyone can donate and anyone can help this cause.


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Here is why colleges is so expensive

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 6:34 pm

Here’s why colleges are so expensive

Annotated bibliography



In Blog post 1, I talked about why colleges are so expensive. They were expensive because of main reasons like inflation, the need of college, and popularity. Because colleges know you need and want them, they want to make it more because they can. Also, if non-popular colleges raise their prices the more popular and expensive colleges will raise theirs to make it seem like they are better.  These things are the reason colleges are about 33,000 a semester.

Some new information, coming from Quora, gives even more reasons. Another reason that I did not mention the cost of textbooks. Textbooks are extremely expensive not only because of the price but the quantity. A textbook is about $150, but you have to multiply that cost with the amount of classes you have. Another reason is the teachers. They get paid a pretty good amount, which the college has to give so the colleges need more money so they can pay for them. College professors get about 25K per course. Another source says that one of the reasons colleges are so expensive is because the state usually doesn’t give much support to public colleges. Because the State gives more money to private, because they know they will be successful, public gets less support. I interviewed some college students. I asked them these questions. I got many different helpful responses. Here is an example of what one student responded with. These responses gave me many different types of views like, whether college is worth the price. Some said no unless you get a good job out of it. Some said yes, no matter what college is worth it. I personally think after all this research that college is worth the price but the price is a bit extreme. One of the questions I asked was, “What’s the worst thing about college?” I asked that because I was wondering if price was the worst thing about it. I am wondering if people really don’t care about the price, or if they got used to the fact that it is really expensive. These interviews gave me many insights on how college is different for different students in different colleges. It’s also interesting to see the ideas they have to make colleges cheaper. For my final blog post, which is to make a change to the problem,I was thinking of getting money to via donations or fundraiser, and to give it to college student that are having a problem paying.

cost of college
cost of college
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Why are colleges so expensive?

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 9:32 am

Why are colleges so expensive?

Click here for more info.

This graph shows how colleges are getting more and more expensive over the years.



Colleges are so expensive these days. It’s one of the main reasons to why some people don’t or can’t go to college. But it doesn’t make any sense. If elders are always trying to tell you to get a good education, then why is education so expensive? I have a personal connection to this topic because I am hoping to eventually go to college. Also, my sister is in college and she is struggling to pay for college. It’s important to know because almost everyone wants to go to college and get a good education. Colleges are really expensive.  But why? It’s because colleges know a few things according to Andrew Jenson. They know that you need college more than college needs you. Colleges are also trying to compete with each other at all times. So when one not so famous college goes up the famous colleges like Drexel and MIT goes up to look better.

Another reason college is so expensive is that they need to pay for a lot of things, from staff and building says Wendover Productions.  Paying the right staff for things kids are interested in means more money. When a new popular major comes in, the college has to spend lots of money to find a good professor to teach that major. So money is used to get professors. Professors are used to attract students. And students are used to get more money. Also, the colleges want to attract students with a nice building. The bigger and more attractive the building, the more expensive the building is to make so colleges need to cover that cost. Lastly, there is Federal and State money. Federal and State money helps colleges cover the cost.But with less federal and state money the more students have to pay.

click here for more info.

This graph shows that inflation is a big reason on why colleges are so expensive. Also, it rises much higher than any other thing like house prices.



Some countries like Germany, Sweden, and Norway have free college. You're probably wondering how the college makes money. Well the college isn’t completely free says Abby Jackson. Colleges get money from taxes. But paying a little more on taxes is still better than paying thousands of dollars as a student. Now I’m not saying that that college should be free in America.

Anya Kamenetz and Eric Westervelt say that free college would not work in America like it does in Germany. In the article it does say that, “There's rising concern that this debt is stopping young people from buying homes, starting families or businesses, saving for their futures and generally being launched into their lives.” But the difference is that Germany has much fewer people going to college than the US, so free college wouldn’t work that well. All im saying is that colleges shouldn’t be that expensive. In 1980, one year of college was $10,200 dollars. But in 2016 it’s around $32,000. That’s three times as much. I believe colleges should be way more cheaper, especially since education is really important. By not going to college, you are possibly missing out on half a million dollars.  I hope that by learning more about this topic, I can find sway to make colleges cheaper for middle-class  middle class and lower class students.
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Macbeth board game: Jacob P, Nasir D, Tyler C.

Posted by Jacob Prunes in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 12:14 pm
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With the board game, Scotland's War, Me (Nasir), Tyler, and Jacob based the game in Macbeth on Act 5 scene 6 to Act 5 scene 8. What happens in those scenes is Macbeth and Macduff are having a war and so my group decided to make a board game based on that. On Macbeth team there you have doctors, archers, soldiers, and the 3 murderers. We added those characters on his team because his thanes left him to be on Macduff side so we decided to to add them since they were the only loyal characters left to Macbeth. We also added the three murderers because they had helped out Macbeth with killing people like Macduff family and Banquo. On the England side you have Macduff, Ross, Young siward, Malcolm, KIng Edward, Siward, and doctors. They are all on the England side because Malcolm couldn’t trust Macbeth so he went to England, Macduff wants revenge on Macbeth for killing his family, Ross felt as though he was not a good king so he went with Macduff team, and Young siward, Siward, and King Edward are helping Macduff killing Macbeth.

We also added chance cards as well so people can have some advantages and disadvantages. Some chance cards works really well with some players and don’t work well with other players. With the chances cards if Macbeth picks up with cards that have Lady Macbeth, the 3 witches, ghost banquo, 3 murderers, and Dunsinane (Macbeth Castle)  then he gets a advantage on the other team and for Macduff if someone picks up the card for Birnam Wood, doctors, and the bad witches then Macduff gets a advantage as well so it makes the game fair.

We decided to do a game board because we didn’t feel like doing a playbill and all the other options because they were boring so we decided to go with a fun game that can have people interested in the game. We had a little trouble on what to name the board game but everyone else had really good names for their board so we had to think hard about till we finally thought of the name of the board game, “Scotland’s War” which made it a good name for it since Macbeth and Macduff in the play were having a war. What made this board unique is that we made sure that every character and setting was right.We made sure  the game can be perfect and we made sure it was really based off the book because we didn’t want to change anything that happened in the book so we made sure exactly that everything was in place. Also of course the game has rules to them always like every other board so it can be fun and fair for everyone to play. So, with this board game it would be really great to try it out and if you do try it then we are pretty sure you’ll love the game a lot. So, that's how we made the game.


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My new slide

Posted by Jacob Prunes in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 9:11 am
I learned that my old background was really wild and distracting. It didn't really match what my picture was. I also learned that I should put my quote on the left because that's the way people read. So I changed the picture and I fixed my quote.

My research taught me about color contrast and composition. It also taught me the section of the frame you should put your main focus on. That's why my quote is not directly to the left.
I used google images(but I made sure I wasn't copyrighting.) I used the sites I was given and some other sites I found to learn things like contrast and composition.  
Me in one slide
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Me in one slide

Posted by Jacob Prunes in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 11:07 am
Me in one slide (1)
I chose this picture to represent me for a couple of reasons. One is that really like this quote. I believe that you shouldn’t worry what other people style is. Your own style is more and important for you to really appreciate yourself. Another reason I made my picture like this is because black and white are one of the best colors to go together. On one site the author said that black is know as a powerful color while white is know to be more peaceful. They are opposites yes, but sometimes opposites attract which is what is happening here. Because instead of fighting for power, black and white contrast. In other words, contrast creates completion. Another way is the spot the quote is located. In the video of composition, one of the the tips is to have your main idea in a corner of a cross frame. I also made the words as big as I can that isn’t obnoxious. This helps the reader be able to read the quote with no problem. Lastly, I made the quote short and sweet so if they were driving by in a car, they can read it before it passes them.
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Home Network Jacob Prunés

Posted by Jacob Prunes in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at 1:48 pm
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