Zac’s Blog

Moving-Again!

I am moving again! this time to zacw3.wordpress.com.

Reviews

If there is anyone out there that wants me to review things liike online games, books, DVDs, anything that is appropriate for ages 11-13 than let me know and i will do the best i can to find out about it and then review it. This week: Rise of Legends.

Iran

Iran has enough nuclear material to build a bomb, the United States’ most senior military commander has said. “We think they do, quite frankly,” ADM Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN. “And Iran having a nuclear weapon, I’ve believed for a long time, is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world,” he said. Iran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful, but the West suspects it is seeking nuclear weapons. ‘One bomb’ possible A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) two weeks ago said Tehran had built up a stockpile of fissile nuclear material.

Some physicists believe this stockpile is enough to be converted into enough highly enriched uranium to build one bomb. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has adopted a cautious approach. “I think that there has been a continuing focus on how do you get the Iranians to walk away from a nuclear weapons programme? They’re not close to a stockpile. They’re not close to a weapon at this point,” he told NBC on Sunday. President Barack Obama has stated he wants to engage in diplomacy with Tehran to ensure it does not build nuclear weapons, and has described the country’s nuclear programme as an “urgent problem” the international community must confront.

 I think that if Iran does happen to have nuclear weapons then America and other countries should try and reach some agreement with them so all countries with nuclear weapons can handle them safely and securely so that they can all continue to research nuclear technology and no-one innocent gets killed.

Taken from http://www.bbc.com

Satellites Collide!

Two communications satellites have collided in the first-ever crash of two intact spacecraft in orbit, NASA said on Wednesday.
 
The collision occurred Tuesday nearly 500 miles over Siberia. The crash produced a pair of massive debris clouds, and the magnitude of the situation won’t be known for weeks at least, said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries.
 
However, any risk to the international space station, which orbits below the collision course, is thought to be low. There also should be no danger to the upcoming space shuttle flight, targeted for liftoff no earlier than February 22, “but they’re continuing to analyse any possible risk,” Humphries said.
 
The collision involved an Iridium commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be non-functioning. Each satellite weighed well over 1,000 pounds.
 
There have been four other cases in which space objects have collided accidentally in orbit, NASA said. But those were considered minor events and involved parts of spent rockets or small satellites.

Information from :http://www.3news.co.nz/News/InternationalNews/Two-satellites-collide-in-first-ever-collision-of-intact-orbiting-spacecraft/tabid/417/articleID/90817/cat/61/Default.aspx

I think that it was a miracle that nothing or anyone was actually hurt or killed, ad i think that the people that are watching the skies for things like this should pay more attention.

Georgia and Russia

As you may know, there has been a small conflict over the territory of south Ossetia and Russia trying to seize it from Georgia. The Russians had taken south Ossetia and had pushed through the overwhelmed Georgian forces before the U.S intervened. Georgia’s breakaway regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – would never agree to being part of Georgia again, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Earlier, Russia said it had begun handing back the town of Gori to Georgian police but insisted its troops would stay in the area. A correspondent from the BBC said there were also reports of Russian military vehicles moving around the town of Senaki and the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti in western Georgia. Moscow had earlier denied the reports but Russia’s deputy chief of staff, Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn, told a televised news conference it was legitimate for Russians to be in Poti as part of intelligence-gathering operations. Georgia’s Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said a convoy of more than 100 Russian tanks and other vehicles was moving from the major western town of Zugdidi deeper into Georgia, but officials were later quoted as saying the column had turned back. 
 I think it is good that this conflict was short but i think that the U.S could have acted quicker to prevent more deaths.

China’s Final Countdown

With only 3 days to go until the Games most of the world’s eyes are focused firmly on Beijing. However, the pollution levels are still abnormally high and there are plans for all endurance events over 1 hour to be delayed if the pollution levels are too bad. Also, the fact is unknown how bad the pollution has to be before the event is postponed. Beijing has tried some drastic measures to clean the air up before the games like one-third of Beijing cars 3.3 million have been taken off the roads. on Monday, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau called it a ‘blue sky day’. But the BBC’s own test found one major pollutant, particulate matter, was almost six times higher than the recommended level.The World Health Organization’s target is 50 micrograms per cubic metre. But they recorded levels in Beijing at 292 micrograms on Monday.

I think that Beijing needs to hurry up and take supreme measures to ensure that the games are not delayed.

China’s Human rights

It appears that China’s human rights have deteriorated on the days up to the games. When it was awarded the chance to host the Games, China said it would uphold the values of human dignity associated with the Olympian tradition. However, allegations have been made by amnesty international which state that China has done the exact opposite. The report says that Chinese activists have been locked up, people have been made homeless, journalists have been detained, websites blocked, and the use of labour camps and prison beatings has increased. I think that this needs to be dealt with as quick as possible or it will become out of hand.

Quotes from: BBC

URL: http://news.BBC.co.UK/2/hi/Asia-pacific/7529453.stm

Beijing’s final clean up

With the Olympics not far away, Beijing is making a last-ditch attempt to clear up the pollution. They have brought in a system where odd-numbered registered cars use the road one day and even numbered on the next. They have put over 10,000 surveillance cameras in place and anyone caught breaking the rule is fined 100 Yuan [or $15] . They hope that about half of the estimated 3,300,00 cars will be forced off the roads in about 2 months with this new system. Another thing that they have done is forced air-polluting companies to limit production or shut down for good. I think that this is a good way to deal with pollution but it may be too late.

The Beijing Olympics

The 2008 Olympics begin on 8/8/08 and Beijing is tidying up the streets and has almost finished the two Olympic venues. The first, the main Olympic stadium to house the Ground sports has been nicknamed the “bird’s nest” and cost China 4 billion yuan or $500 million U.S dollars. The stadium was designed in a worldwide competition in 2002 and the designers were Herzog & de Meuron with Arup Sport and China Architecture Design & Research Group. the second Olympic stadium, The Water Cube, is the place where they will be housing the swimming sports. The water cube was designed by PTW architects, CSCEC and a number of others. The entire Cube is covered in ETFE, a kind of fabric that lets in 30% more light and heat than glass, making it a cost-effective investment. The ETFE is also made to withstand earthquakes so the it will not shatter like glass. The water cube cost about 1 billion Yuan, a quarter of the cost of the “Bird’s Nest”.The Birds Nest [left]

My goals review

My goals for 2008 were:

1.To work on my time-management skills. 

2.To get better at maths. 

3.To put more effort into my work and to take care of what I am writing.

4. To concentrate on what I am doing and not talk.

5. To learn to play the alto saxophone.

6. To learn Japanese.

I think that I have not achieved my first goal as I am still lazy and I only just get my work handed in.

My second goal I think that I have achieved as I now find maths a lot easier.

I think that I may have achieved my third goal as my effort is slowly getting better.

I have not achieved my fourth goal as i still talk and get distracted.

I have achieved my fifth goal and i now play quite well.

I haven’t achieved my sixth goal as i have not done Japanese yet.