Obama's War by Brian Morgan

I watched the movie Obama's War and it showed the difficult times in Afganistan. Soldiers are at risk even just walking through fields because of mines and all kinds of explosives. The citizens lives are threatened by the enemy ( the Taliban ) and tell them not to shop at some markets. Some citizens there produce drugs for a living and are afraid that American soldiers are going to punish them for it. American troops are over there to protect the citizens and have some the areas normal again as before. Soldiers have to be aware of any sneaky looking people--such as people running away from them or hiding material.

American troops can get ambushed at any time and randomly have shootouts with the enemy from tree lines very far away. The soldiers basically don't have anything to sleep on and have to be aware at all times. American troops are very brave for fighting for our country and are at risk every minute over in Afganistan.

Afganistan's president in the running is trying to stop inconstant governments or governments people don't trust.

If I had to make a follow up film it would be about the enemy's experience during war. This

will be to see if the soldiers on the other side of the war feel the same as us about

it. I would also like to hear what the American soldiers personally think about the war and how

it has changed them back at home.

By: Brian Morgan ' 12

Frontline's "Inside the Teenage Brain" video

I have just finished watching a documentary on the teenage brain. This video is called "Inside the Teenage Brain," and can be found on Frontline PBS's website, www.pbs.org ( Direct link to their video archive.
This video's topic is all about teenager's infamous behavior and the motivation behind it. Advances in technology like the magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, has allowed scientists to look at the growth and development of the teenage brain. The doctors or scientists look for changes in different age groups on the brain. One thing that doctors do think can make a difference in the lives of teens is the amount of sleep they need each night. Scientists say that teens need at least 9 hours of sleep to fully function during the day. This helps them make good daily decisions and improves learning capability completely.

This video also talks about having a good, healthy, relationship with your parents. Having good family relationships can help mostly everyone but teenagers especially need family support behind them just so they're not lost in society. The video says having open communication in the house with everyone is best for keeping teens in good behavior.

There was a lot of information to be taken in from watching this video, being a teenager I can relate to most of what I have seen. Something I learned from this video and intend on doing is getting more sleep at night. Going to bed early will help me in school and give me more energy all around. I think this was a hard subject to make a documentary about but Frontline has definitely pulled it off. Here is the link to the video, "Inside the Teenage Brain".

--By Matt

Behind Taliban Lines-Gabe Ferreira

Today I watched the movie "Behind Taliban Lines" which was about a reporter who takes his camera and records what goes on in a Taliban unit in Northern Afghanistan. In this movie the reporter uncovers everything from terrorists making bombs and weapons to their daily lives. This movie also includes a mission that goes wrong due to failed bomb making.

What I learned from this movie is that most terrorists will sacrifice themselves and go through with a mission that can kill several innocent people. Also, the Taliban get a lot of their weapons and supports from local villagers. Not only that but the Taliban also uses the drug ring to support their funds (Opium). I also learned that the Taliban considers anyone who does not believe in their religion to be an enemy. America is one of the biggest enemies.

One thing I found interesting was that Najibullah, the reporter of this movie, met with the fighters and learned what went on in their lives. After several weeks later, he found out the the same group that he filmed went and killed the police officers that Najibullah actually met soon after he was sent home. A follow up film that I could make instead of "Behind Taliban Lines," would be about filming behind Afghan police lines to see what their fight against the Taliban is like.

When Kids Get a Life

I will be summarizing the video "When Kids Get a Life" seen on Frontline PBS.
In the early morning hours of December 17, 1992, 15-year-old Jacob Ind slaughtered his mother and step-father in their Woodland Park home. Pamela and Kermode Jordan were shot first in their bed by Ind's friend, 17-year-old Gabriel Adams. When that didn't kill them, Adams stabbed several times as they struggled to get away. Jacob finally finished the job when he grabbed his step-father's .357 revolver. Jacob got him and his friend to murder his mother and step father. Their family had a nice house that everyone in the city looked at and would call such a lovely home, people outside the house probably thought there was so much hapiniess in that family but everything seems better on the outside and no one knows about the inside.

Jacob's mother did not like him since he was born, she would always say I wish you were never born. Throughout Jacob's life cutting himself was the only way he could get away from everything. Jacob and his brother would always get sexually abused by his parents their whole lives. They would get raped in the bathroom and beat up by their father very often. All of that would happen a lot until Jacob couldn't take it no more and he killed them. Jacob didn't think it was all reality, he was worried about his school absences and also about the marijuana in his room. He thought he would get in trouble for that, he didn't think he would get in trouble for murder, he didn't even think about that. That is how unaware he was. He got charged for 1st degree murder and is in Colorado jail for the rest of his life.

That is just one of the stories about a teen who gets his life behind bars for the rest of his life. There are lots of kids who commit crime at an early age. At the age they commit the crime they don't know what they are doing, but then when they go to prison they hit consciousness. But do they belong in jail? they were just defending themselves. Here are two stories about 2 teens who get abused by their parents and the kids end up killing their parents. They are both very sad stories and keeps you wondering about what do u do when you get abused? they end up killing their parents and get put behind bars but do the really deserve that?

Behind Taliban Lines

The video I watched was about Afghanistani journalist Najibullah Quraishi and how he went behind the Taliban lines. He was filming basically the life of an insurgent group and how they are trying to take control back from the US on a key trading route.

During the film he went with the Taliban as they built a road side bomb or an IED. The next morning he went with them as they planted it on a highway in hopes of blowing up a police or military vehicle. But their bid was unsuccessful as their lookouts didn't tell them in time. As they were taking position up at the road to wait for another military vehicle to come, a police jeep drove down the road. The insurgents used RPG's or rocket propelled grenades to blow up the vehicle however again the attempt was unsuccessful.

As the first week of his journey was coming to an end, the group of insurgents that he was with met up with two high powered contacts from Pakistan that were not happy that he was filming. They wanted him gone because they felt that he was a spy and was filming this for evidence. The man that allowed him to follow felt that he was a guest to the group and when the Pakistani men wanted him to be beheaded he compromised with them and allowed him to leave without being harmed.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO ON FRONTLINE

Threw this video i learned what are soldiers have to fight against over seas. I also learned that the taliban are using weapons that are sometimes very old because they started to bury them after their war with the russians and they are just now using them against us.

If I had to make an alternate video to this one i would make it on the American's side and show how they are making the country better for them and they are just refusing the help.

Obama's War by Masaud Ahmed

Today I watched Obama's War on Fronline PBS. Pretty much the whole video talk about how the United States is fighting against terrorism in Afghanistan and how their number one goal is to protect the Afghan citizens. U.S Marines are trying hard to get markets to open up again in Helmend but unfortunately where ever the army goes, the citizens leave the places deserted due to threats from Taliban. It also shows how the marines have to patroll the areas all day to keep it safe, and how they communicate with Afghan civilians so they don't feel like they are occupying Afghanistan.



I learned some pretty interesting facts. What shocked me the most was how the Taliban made 100 million dollars from opium trade. That's insane! Another interesting fact I learned was how the Taliban published pamphlets informing the civilians that they are here to protect them from hardships. Also, one more fact I learned was how the Taliban would go and interview civilians and ask questions such as if Mullah Omars shadowy government is doing enough for them.

A follow up film that I would make is from the Taliban side. I want to know more about Mullah Omars "shadowy governemnt" and what he does for the Afghan people. Now that we heard from the U.S side, it's not a bad idea to know what the other side has to say.

Mid Term Assesment --May 24, 2010

As part of your mid-term assessment I will be taking these factors into  account for your grade:
-Attendance
-Participation
-Project Development
-Blog Assessment

The blog assessment will be do on Monday, May 24.
The assignment will be a blog post summarizing a film from Frontline World.
You can pick any film you like:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=topnav&utm_source=topnav

From there you will
1) Watch the film (completely)
2) Summarize the film in a blog.
What is the film about?
What did you learn about the film?
How can what you learn be applied in your life? 
What would a follow-up film be like if you were to make one?
3) Make sure to include links and pictures.
 

Mid Term Assesment --May 24, 2010

As part of your mid-term assessment I will be taking these factors into  account for your grade:
-Attendance
-Participation
-Project Development
-Blog Assessment

The blog assessment will be do on Monday, May 24.
The assignment will be a blog post summarizing a film from Frontline World.
You can pick any film you like:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=topnav&utm_source=topnav

From there you will
1) Watch the film (completely)
2) Summarize the film in a blog.
What is the film about?
What did you learn about the film?
How can what you learn be applied in your life? 
What would a follow-up film be like if you were to make one?
3) Make sure to include links and pictures.

A Day In The Life Documentary of Matt McNamara

For a final video project, I've decided to make a short documentary on myself. I'll be filming myself for a day from waking up to going to sleep. This Friday is the day I'll be filming on. I'll be going to school in the morning, then going to the mall which is where I'll be for most of the day since I work there. After work, I will try to enjoy my Friday night. Throughout the video, viewers can meet my friends and family who are all a bunch of characters. Not to be conceited or anything, but the people I interact with on a daily basis are pretty funny and all around good people. I think my friends and some of my ideas will make this video, one to enjoy.

Mid Term/Final Project

You have four choices for your mid-term project (final project for seniors).
These will be due the last week in May (seniors), or first week for June (everyone else).
Here are the choices/examples.

Music Video:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnKmMzLrvmk
 
Movie Trailer for Book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KHLoHzjglA

Mini Autobiography or Documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb597tlZCfQ (Autobio)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVDHcWCbkZY

Shots Video: 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1japIhKU9I&playnext_from=TL&videos=2PlTK2nPP40

Teenagers and Risk Taking Behaviors

After listening to NPR's morning edition's story on teenagers and risk taking behaviors, what are your thoughts?
Are you more likely to engage in risky behavior alone or with friends. They say that the behavior peeks at 15 years of age. Do you think that is true in your experience. Why or why not?
Do you text while driving?

Listen to the story HERE.

Broken Pipe

Pipe repair is being done right now on March 3, of 2010. Engineers have started working on it last night and have gained success. At first, the pipe flushed water everywhere, but now, pipes have been successfully attached and last bits of work is being done right now. Areas affected by this water issue said that they would open schools on Monday but kids had to bring water, and some schools even wanted hand sanitizer brought. Engineers have also said that its too early to predict why might the pipe have broken. State officials have also said that the water is heavily being chlorinated to kill bacteria, but the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority said we shouldn't drink it because results of bacteria levels aren't back yet.

Today, on May 4, 2010, pipe repair has been done, and water is good to go now. Workers reconnected the 2 pipes with a steel collar and on-top of that welded it, so they made sure it wont break up again. But, officials warned we shouldn't drink from faucets just yet because it still may contain bacteria, or either a very weird taste due to the extra chlorine they've poured to kill bacteria.

Water "emergency"

On early Saturday morning, May 1st a pipe that delivers water to the Quabbin Reservoir to Boston ruptured. The water from the ruptured piped quickly followed into a near by Charles River. The city along with 29 suburbs are still without clean water for 2 days now and officials are still without meaning of what caused this rupture. The state order around 2.5 million drinking water for the needy, nursing homes and vulnerable populations. 

On May 2nd it hit to the high 80's and people filled the stores looking for water. The water being delivered to homes as of now is 3/5 of pond water from Chestnut Hill Reservoir. As of last night around 10:30 pm, workers had said they successfully welded the pipes together and now looking for leaks. Even though the pipes are welded and fixed the next step is to test the water. At least two separate water drinking test need to be done to make sure the water is drinkable. Officials are still looking into why and how the collar connecting the pipes could have ruptured and how we can prevent this from happening again. A lot of stores and cafes had to close due to their supplies are unable to be made because of no clean water. On the day the collar broke I was working at Shaw's Supermarket, my lines went down the store with people buying gallons of water. All registers were open and lines were filled with about 12 people at a time. The mobs of people were shocked about have no water and worried when it would come back on. 

On May 4th Governor Deval Patrick has announced that the fixing of a water pipe could have taken about a week to fix but was done in 72 hours. The Boston area now has clean water, he also promised to make a review how the collar broke.

Below is the video of Deval Patrick announcement of the clean water-

"If there were a sink in here, I would take a glass from 

the tap and drink it myself. I'm very confident." 

Patrick said at a news conference in Chelsea this morning.

"Early on we made a strategic decision that every minute that we spend . . . 

trying to figure out what happened is an hour that was wasted that couldn't 

be used to get the problem resolved,"

said MWRA executive director Frederick A. Laskey

Different Ways of Shooting video Clips

These are a bunch of different kinds of video shots.

Brief Summary of New York's Time Square Bombing Attempt

This past Saturday on May 1st, a parked SUV was found in New York City's Time Square which contained explosives. A street vendor, Duane Jackson, notified the police when he heard popping noises and smelt something burning, coming from the SUV. When police investigated, they found three small propane tanks used for grilling, M-88 firecrackers, two plastic containers of gasoline, a 75 lbs. gun locker filled with 8 bags of fertilizer, and an alarm clock. Police believe if the bomb actually went off, the bomb and car would have made a massive fireball which would have the damage to kill any bystanders around the car. The FBI have been trying to track down the driver of the SUV but have only found dead end links. The car was recently sold from the previous owner who doesn't know much about the new owner. The license plates on the car weren't registered to that car but to another vehicle. A new article on nytimes.com claims that police have found a video with a man stopping infront of the SUV to change his shirt. This man has now become a point of interest, and the footage can be seen on the New York Time's website. FBI investigators have different leads on why the bomb was put there. One lead is from the threats on the creators of the cartoon series South Park. On one of their recent episodes, they made fun of the Muslim Religion by having an image of Muhammad which has angered many people who follow the Muslim faith. The SUV was parked outside of the headquarters of Viacom, they are the company who own Comedy Central where South Park is aired. This is a very unfortunate event for everyone but the best thing is that no damage was done and no one was hurt.

No Water for Watertown

When a major water main bursted in Weston, the event could only be described as catastrophic. With 8 million gallons of water an hour pouring into the streets over 30 Boston communities were affected by the incident, one of them being Watertown. Citizens have been instructed to boil their water for 3 minutes before using it for drinking.

On Tuesday May 9th news went out that the pipe had been repaired an that the ban has been lifted. The situation took three days to resolve.

NYC Car Bomb

There was a car bomb caught in NYC which would have killed many people.  People reported smoke coming out of a car, which was a good call that probably saved many lives.  Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissioner, said the materials found in the Nissan Pathfinder gasoline, propane, firecrackers, and simple alarm clocks and also included eight bags of a granular substance, later determined to be nonexplosive grade of fertilizer, inside a 55-inch-tall metal gun locker. This is very mysterious event and extremely fortunate the bomb didn't go off.  There was a video caught of a very suspicious man walking by the car that contained the explosive.  He looks back at the car twice and police think he is a suspect to this vain event.  The suspect was found and comprehended.  Since the bomb didn't go off there were many ways to track down the suspect, such as finger prints etc.  The estimate of deaths this would have caused is around 400 people.  It is very fortunate this act didn't go as planned.

Brian Morgan

New York City Bombing Attempt by

On May 2, 2010 a local vendor was tired and sat down in his chair. As he sat down he saw smoke coming out from the SUV that later was discovered to have been packed with explosives. A black Nissan Pathfinder was parked in Times Square at the corner of 45th and Broadway. The owner of the Pathfinder was believed to be a person in Connecticut but that person said they sold it. No suspects have been found but a man who is believed to be in his 40's was seen taking off his shirt to reveal a different shirt underneath right next to parked Nissan and also looking back several times to where the car was. Click here to see video.

Paul J. Browne of the police department said that had it exploded, "It would have been, in all likelihood, a good possibility of people being killed, windows shattered, but not resulting in a building collapse." The police have yet to find a motive for this attempt but nothing is clear yet. It is very clear that the police will be trying to encounter any evidence linking the car to someone.

As of today, a man named Faisal Shahzad, an American citizen from Pakistan, was arrested and taken into custody after trying to leave the country to go to Dubai. Investigators say that due to the failed attempt, most of the evidence inside the car was usable and they were able to arrest the suspect very quickly. Police are now trying to find any connections with this attempt with any terrorist organizations including the Taliban. "Now as citizens we must stay alert and report any suspicious behavior, staying alert like the food vendor could save many lives." said Chief of Police.