KMoney -- Blogmeister

[Editor's Note: The 2007-2008 students have just graduated 5th grade. They have been in school for about six years. In another six years they will be a senior in high school. Believe it or not, they are about half way through their public schooling life! Below is a postcard they wrote to their "12th grade self." It will be mailed it to them in June 2014!]

Do you want someone to play with? Are you always bored and lonely? Well, then you should get a dog.

First of all, dogs give you responsibilities. If you don't have a lot of responsibilities if you get a dog you will because you have to feed it, walk it, pick up its poop, and train it. It will teach you life lessons. A friend told me that she got a puppy and it was eight weeks old. She said he was a lot of work because she had to train him to go to the bathroom outside and NOT in the house. She also has to be around him almost 24/7.

You should also get a dog because they keep you company. If you get bored out of your brains you can go sit with your dog and maybe he will come put a paw on you and maybe he will fall asleep on you. That is a REALLY good feeling! If you are ever bored, lonely, or sad you can go to your dog and play with him and he will ALWAYS be there for you no matter what. Do you know how kids have to be entertained ALL THE TIME? Well, no more worries because you can just go find your dog and throw the ball and you will have a ball!

Another reason you should get a dog is because you can teach them new tricks like sit, stay, down, come, speak, and lots more. But there are certain tricks that are VERY hard to teach your dog. LOOK OUT! Once I had a dog treat in my hand. I said, “sit” and he sat but then when I said, “down” and put the treat on the ground, he just went for it! Then I had to start all over again.

So, if you want someone to play with, keep you company, or give you responsibilities, go ahead and get a dog. Go! You should be walking to the pet shop! GET A DOG!

[Editor's note: Click the "play in browser" podcast icon below to HEAR Kmoney & LillJJ read this piece!]

Frenchman Michael Fournier planned to be lifted into the air, but the balloon, filled with helium, accidentally detached from the capsule as it deflated. If he managed to make it, he would have broken a world record.

WOW, that is so funny but so cool but so sad all at the same time!! Sad because it inflated and he failed. Funny because. . .it just is! I mean, think about it for a second! Cool because it was a 15 minute free-fall. That is just darn insane!

CHECK IT OUT!!☺☻
target=_blank>http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?user_id=103419&blogger_id=120866

[Editor's note: "The Constitution Works" is a role-playing exercise that gives students a chance to learn about the United States Constitution and government. The students role play a hypothetical court case, Denver Dispatch v. United States. Students take on roles as a lawyer or Supreme Court Justice. They think about what is more important: the freedom of the newspaper to print what it wants OR the government's duty to protect our nation's security. Read more about the Constitution Works program HERE.

Denver Dispatch v. United States 2008
Docket Number 93-8000

1. The Story
The Denver Dispatch wrote about a secret weapons lab in Boulder, Colorado. The government argued that the Denver Dispatch let out too much information, so they went to court.

2. The Denver Dispatch Goes to the Supreme Court

The lawyers for the government argued:

· The Denver Dispatch gave out too much information.
· There isn’t as much Freedom of Speech during wartime.
· The articles might cause people to panic.
· The articles are a threat to national security.

The lawyers for the Denver Dispatch argued:

· The Denver Dispatch thought their articles were fine.
· The public has a right to know.
· If the virus leaked, the public would be ready.

The Supreme Court Justices decided:

The Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 in favor of the government.

Writing for the majority, Justice “J” wrote:

I vote for the government because the Denver Dispatch is telling too much information about the laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The Government had good arguments like the newspaper getting into the wrong hands and the enemies could “accidentally” leak the Anthrax X. If the Denver Dispatch keeps on publishing then it will keep the government from doing its constitutional job which is keeping the nation safe. That would be a safety violation against the Nation. The Government had good petitioners and very well organized arguments. They also worked as a team which I thought was really interesting.

I think that if the Denver Dispatch hadn’t put so much information then I would have agreed. The Denver Dispatch argued that they had the freedom of the press from the First Amendment but that is not the whole Constitution. The Preamble says that the government’s job is to keep the nation safe. If the Denver Dispatch keeps on publishing then they are not allowing the government to do their job responsibly.

Writing for the majority, Justice “NinjaKitty” wrote:

I think the government was not correct but their presentation was a very convincing argument. They used three different cases, and they were very professional looking and they actually knew what they were talking about. Also they argued for National Security. They have my vote. I’d rather be alive and safe than informed.

Writing for the majority, Justice “Kmoney” wrote:

In court the government spoke what they believed in, and they had really nice briefs. I think the Denver Dispatch has no right to put that much information in an article that might go out to the town! The public needs to know, though, so they should take off the picture and take off some of the safety procedures. The public also needs to know if there is an emergency. That’s why the public needs to know and the Government is absolutely right.

Writing for the majority, Justice “LillJJ” wrote:

The Government did very well presenting their case, communicating, and they looked very professional. I agreed with everything they said. When they brought up National Security, they had my vote. I think that people would rather be safe and alive than informed. I don’t even read the newspaper. They convinced me, and so my vote goes to the government.

Writing for the majority, Justice “Rman2000” wrote:

I vote for the Government because the Denver Dispatch only said the same thing: “The people need to know.” But the Government said that national security was at risk. The Government lawyers used the NEAR case, the SCHENK case, and the PENTAGON PAPERS. The Government also said the Denver Dispatch was giving too much information. I agreed with that too.

Writing for the majority, Justice “Railroad” wrote:

I am voting for the Government because of its arguments. They had really good facts. They also had a very good presentation. Their reasons are: if the government let the people know about Anthrax X the people might panic, terrorists might attack, and our enemies might develop a similar weapon and maybe use it against us. The Denver Dispatch had the right to publish the article but they abused their right by telling all of the secrets about that lab.

Writing for the majority, Justice “D-Man” wrote:

The government is right, the Denver Dispatch is giving away too much information. They have proof that the Denver Dispatch is giving away too much information; their proof is in the article itself! There were pictures, safety procedures, and information about Anthrax X. It was OK to give away information but it was not OK to give away too much information! Now that article will be a risk to national security if we do not stop them from publishing it.

Writing for the minority, Justice “J” wrote:

I, Justice Jackson, vote in favor of the Denver Dispatch because it is their right as members of the United States of America to be able to write whatever they want to say and to print what they. If the government felt that it would be a danger to our nation’s security they should know that it has been said in the biggest document in the world that they can print anything they want. It would be unconstitutional to strip them of this right as Americans.

Writing for the minority, Justice “BalletGirl” wrote:

I favor the Denver Dispatche’s arguments over the government’s arguments because I don’t think it is a risk of national security when the Denver Dispatch wrote these articles. Even though it is wartime (and that makes the 1st amendment rights tighter than usual), they were just informing the public of this lab. They did not, and I quote, “have an environmental impact statement” which research labs don’t need to have to do biological research but they do need an National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which they also don’t have. The Denver Dispatch was not trying to hurt or scare anybody and they weren’t trying to rebel against the government, they were only trying to inform the public. Yes, they gave out too much information but I don’t think they meant to give out that much information. In the next articles they will write they will be informed not to give out that much information as they did in their first article. They used the Near vs. Minnesota case a couple of times and made a point about why they were using it. They made connections with past Supreme Court cases, which is not that easy to do. Therefore and in conclusion, I am fully agreeing on the Denver Dispatch’s side.

An aquatic brown frog was found in a remote part of the Indonesian island of Borneo during an expedition last summer. It has flat, big eyes, and they peer out of the water as it glides along the water. Skin flaps from its arms and legs. This animal is known as lungless frog species.

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1730246,00.html

Time for Kids | News | A Breathtaking Discovery via kwout

Wow, that is just amazing. How does it survive without lungs? That is just crazy!!! Does it blend into things? Or what?

CHECK IT OUT!!! http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1730246,00.html

Wow, that is so sad because cars were flipped, roofs were torn off, and trees and power lines were brought down. Thousands of homes were affected by downed power lines. The southern city of Suffolk, Virginia was hit the hardest, and over 200 people were killed.

I can just feel for the people that were there while this was all happening. Now some don’t have homes and food. Or if they do have homes they don’t have power.

CHECK IT OUT!☺☻
target=_blank>http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7370000/newsid_7372600/7372604.stm

Are you tired of riding to school on just an ordinary bike? Well, Didi Senft from Germany invented a 14 m long and 4.2 m high bike that can’t fit under bridges on a normal road. I don’t know what they are going to do with it, though. It took him six months to finish it and he used 300 m of aluminum. He wishes to get his name in the Record books.

Wow, that is just amazing, I am speechless and in the picture it was big and beautiful!

Wow, these sounds sound beautiful. Just imagine waking up at 6:00 am and have that breeze blowing through your hair and you hear a beautiful sound from the birds. All these birds make all different sounds and they all say it in a different way to their families.

This is so cool, how every species of bird makes a totally different sound. When I was little I always thought that birds all made different sounds. That is just so cool.

Hear all about it at:
http://www.dogonews.com/dogo_news/2008/04/these-birds-are.html

OMG! Somebody should do something! Dozens of kids have to go across this river to go to school, there are crocodiles in the water, and it takes ten minutes to get across from it. I’m surprised the kids are not dead! Their boat was stolen so they have to swim. The villagers are demanding a bridge to be built so these kids could be safe. But if it isn’t, the kids will have to hike all around the land just to get to school in the morning.

This is so wrong! If I was a parent of the children that are going across the river I would be trying my hardest to try to do something. Plus, they are putting themselves in such big danger!

CHECK IT OUT!
target=_blank>http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7310000/newsid_7316500/7316570.stm