Summary of the US Constitution

This week I summarized the US Constitution, not including the Amendments. It has been really intriguing to see how our country used to function and all the changes that have been made for the good (or the bad).

1.     Article I

a.      Section 1: All law making power is given to a Congress consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives

b.      Section 2: The House of Representatives will be made of people selected every second year by the US citizens. Elected persons must be old enough and a true American. Taxes shall be collected from each state in a fair manor. The House of Representatives shall choose their officers and be the only body with the power of impeachment.

c.      Section 3: The Senate will be made of two senators from every state, serving for six years with one vote. Senators most also be mature adults with a nine year residency in the US. The Vice President will be head of the Senate, but not allowed to vote unless to break a tie. The Senate will also try impeachment cases. Impeachment will only remove the president from office and any other honorable position on the government.

d.      Section 4: States will dictate when and where elections for senators.

e.      Section 5: each house shall determine various trivial rules and punishments

f.       Section 6: The Senators and Representatives shall receive payment for their services. They shall not be arrested or bothered while they are serving, excepting treason, felony, or breach of peace.

g.      Section 7: Various laws shall be made concerning collection of taxes a other paraphernalia

h.      Section 8: Congress will have power to collect taxes and other things for the welfare of the US. They will borrow money on US credit, regulate commerce with foreign countries, establish a uniform law of naturalization, coin money, provide punishment for counterfeiting, establish post offices, and other imported infrastructural processes.

i.       Section 9: Various laws about immigration with be established.

j.       Section 10: States will not have as high a powers as the national government

2.     Article II

a.      Section 1: The president will hold executive power and serve in office for a term of 4 years. A voting system where the people vote for voters will be established to elect the president and vice president. Only a person born in the US may serve as president

b.      Section 2: The president will be the commander in chief of the US Army and Navy. He will have power to make treaties and other things with the consent of the Senate.

c.      Section 3: The president will give information to congress on the state of the Union from time to time.

d.      Section 4: The president, vice president, and all civil officers shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes.

3.     Article III

a.      Section 1: The judicial power of the country will be held by one supreme court, and in lesser courts as Congress establishes. The judges will only hold their offices when they behave and shall receive small compensation for their services.

b.      Section 2: The judicial power of the courts will extend to all persons, whether native or only visiting. The supreme court shall judge cases involving foreign ambassadors. Trials of any crimes except impeachment will be judged by a jury in the state where the crime was committed.

c.      Section 3: Treason to the United States shall consist only of making war against them or helping its enemies. No one can be convicted of treason unless the two witness testify to an overt act of treason or an admission from the defendant.

4.     Article IV

a.      Section 1: Many abilities will be given to each state to arrange its own proceedings, and congress may also make certain laws in that area.

b.      Section 2: Every citizen in every state will have the same privileges of every other citizen. Any felon that runs to another state will be returned to the state in which he committed the crime upon request from the mother state.

c.      Section 3: New states can be added to the Union, but not inside of another state. Congress can regulate state borders.

d.      Section 4: The US will guarantee to the States a republican form of government and will protect them from invasion and domestic violence.

5.    Article V

a.      Section 1: When both houses agree, amendments can be made to this constitution.

6.     Article VI

a.      Section 1: Any debts or contracts made before the adoption of the constitution will carry over into the new regime. These laws are the supreme laws of the land. Religion will never be a deciding factor in the qualification or election to public office of individuals.

7.     Article VII

a.      Section 1: Everyone agrees to adopt this Constitution in the nine states.

Focus

In our day and age
When death has the stage
Darkness is all around

When we turn on the news
It gives us the blues
To see all the terror on earth

"...40 more deaths in Bolivia..."
Headlines like this seem like trivia
For we're surround by darkness and death

Could it be me?
For all I can see
Are reasons for my untimely demise

The books we read
They plant a dark seed
That blocks out the sun and its beams

Movies we see
Fill us with glee
But haunt us in our beds at night

They seem effective
At changing perspective
To one of doubt and despair

Can I find hope?
Can I eventually cope?
With the scares made in this world?

The redirection of focus
Is not hocus pocus
We just need to look at the Light

We just need to view
What is joyful and true
To illuminate our darkening world

The sight of a flower
Can fill us with Power
That will conquer the darkness

If we stare into the shadows
Despair overflows
And all we can think of is dark

Upon what we ponder
We'll become fonder
Until that is our only thought

So let's make the subject of our attention
Not be a prevention
Of the Light that shines from the sky

If we focus on the Son
There's no need to run
From the shadows that lurk in our minds

If we focus on Light
Our world will be bright
If we only open the blinds

List of Good Short Movies - v.1.6

Here are some animations and videos that I've compiled from around the web. Some are funny, sad, strange, cute or interesting. I rate them all G or PG. 

One Day - A man becomes tired of lonesome life and of living in one place for only a day.

Burning Safari - a hilarious but fast short about some unlucky alien tourists. 

Big Buck Bunny - after a mischievous little squirrel squashes a butterfly, Big Buck decides to take revenge.

The Sugar Bugs - so what does go on in your mouth when you go to the dentist?

Unimagined Friends - the cute story of an imaginary friend that hasn't been imagined yet.

Ex-E.T. - one alien in an OCD civilization doesn't  fit in.

Caminandes: Gran Dillama - a llama learns the meaning of "the grass is always greener on the other side".

AbDUCKted - an animation so short a synopsis would give it all away, but very humorous.

Leaving Home - a sheltered boy whose mother always does everything for him finally has to leave home.

Floating in My Mind - a sweet animation on the memories we make and who we make them with.

Oktopodi - an octopus must save his girlfriend from the sushi bar.

Land - a plot-less surreal adventure.

Alphabetic - the alphabet presented in a funky, animated way. 

Cinematics - a collection of classic TV and movie characters

To the Heart of the Matter - a man getting ready to propose to his love has an unexpected adventure.

Space Time Fabric Softener - an short adventure through the fibers of space time.

Ormie - piggy wants a cookie, and piggy's gonna get it. 

Miniscule - the world of bugs. No talking in any of these shorts, but it tells a cute story through actions alone.

Priorities - a boy who seeks only survival is challenged by his dog who seeks only his attention.

Tiny Nomad - a scorpion-hating mouse rediscovers his origins that shaped his life while traveling through a desert. 

TimTom - two friends try to reach each other but are continually stopped by the animator.

Wild Casting - viewers of an MGM motion-picture are in for a big surprise when a lion escapes from the zoo.

Supertromp - a young boy trains for changing night to day.

Copernicus - an allegory for the Copernican Revolution; earth loses her place at the center of the solar system to the sun.

M. Eustache - an orator is having trouble with his wild moustache backstage.

Le Royaume - a travelling king commands a beaver to build him a castle. (Note: in one part, it looks like someone is about to get hit with an axe. He is not actually injured, so no worries ;)

Derailed - some mining dogs jump into their train cart to head over to the doggie-treat-dispenser for lunch, unaware of the danger ahead.

JohnnyExpress - an inter-galactic delivery man can't find the extra-terrestrial recipient of a microscopic package

Dinosaure d'Aveugle (The Blind's Dinosaur) - a blind man has a pet dinosaur! Unfortunately...

Motorbike - a young man on an old bike struggles to reach a date on time.

Hoof It - a boy goes on an adventure to rescue his goat so he can make enough goat cheese to pay for his father's surgery. 

Acorn - an acorn has trouble finding a place to plant himself

Omelette - when a dog's tired master gets home, the dog springs into action to make his beloved master an omelet.

Tiny Worlds - who cleans up all the little bits of garbage on a city street?

Coming Soon! - Curious Dictionary

Very soon I will have completed my own dictionary called:

The Dictionary of Obscure, Curious, Humorous, Forgotten and Loved Words

I've dug up tons of strange words from around the internet, many of which have not been used properly for years. Most of them you will never have heard of (I hadn't either until now). I've used sources such as "The Phrontistery", "Luciferous Logolepsy", and the "Grandiloquent Dictionary". I've even had to scour the web for the official longest word in the English language, a difficult but rewarding task. Right now the dictionary contains about 130 entries, all with an example sentence. 
 

Here's a word for each adjective in the title of the dictionary, respectively, as a teaser.

acephalous - (adj) lacking a distinct head. Although it was acephalous, the chicken survived for three weeks.

byrthynsak - (noun) steeling as much as one can carry. The byrthynsak of the McWander estate was an incident recorded in all the local newspapers.

groak - (verb) to stare at someone who is eating in hopes of receiving food. The irresistible puppy groaked from under the table. 

 hamadryad - (noun) a king cobra. Unbeknownst to the farmer, the hamadryad slithered towards its victim

 phrontistery - (noun) a thinking-place or an establishment for learning or studying. Many great scientists went to the phrontistery to think and cogitate. 

I'll be adding a few more entries and then it will be ready to put on the blog. But even then I will continue to add to it!

 

(Hopefully) Coming Soon! - New Short Story Series

So here's a rough sketch of the new short story series I'll be doing on this blog to replace the Mosaic series.

-----

Edges of the Map

New Lands. Strange Creatures. Unexplained Mysteries.

Soon after the unexplained death of King Grisbon, king of the Isle of Aebia, a gruff, quiet and immensely strong man shows up in the village of Clagville. This man, Cynwreg, tells tales of a city of gold, friendly dragons, wonderful creatures and new continents. He soon befriends a young boy and his eccentric grand-uncle, but trouble begins to brew. The town folk accuse Cynwreg of murdering King Grisbon, and he is chased off of Aebia and back to his ship, along with his new found friends, and then some.

Characters:

Cynwreg - and muscular, quiet, and defensive man in his thirties. 

A young boy in early teens - relatively shy, but sometimes brash. Always getting into trouble

A young girl about 9 or 10 - lived in woods, murderous, loves hunting, tribal.

The girl's mother - always talking, opinionated. 

The boy's grand-uncle - a scientist, botanist, zoologist, topographer. always mapping and cataloging new lands and creatures.

An old alchemist - can actually turn metals into gold for limited time. rather demented and zany.

A few more people. 

Yode - Cynwreg's pet miniature dragon (don't worry, it's fuzzy). 

Mildred - official ship's goat.

As they sail across the Oob Ocean, they discover new creatures and lands never before seen by Aebians.

---

Names might change. Clagville might chase Cynwreg out of town because their don't like Yode. Everything is subject to change. Maps coming soon. Hope you enjoy!

Questions About Education

Here are some questions about our education system to get your brain churning!

1. Why does school have to be mandatory?
2. Does it even have to be mandatory? 
3. Why don't kids like school/want to learn?
4. Could students be trusted to educate themselves?
5. Why aren't we (children) as interested in the world around us as, say, the self-educated Michael Faraday?
6. Is it because of our society?
7. If so, is there a way to revert our society back to a state where children will want to learn; or is the problem's roots embedded in our technological comforts and way of life?
8. Do teachers make learning boring? I know from my personal experience I like learning things on my own rather than being forced to do something. For instance, the Curious Robot is something I like to do, not something I'm forced to do.
9. Why don't children find the amazing workings of the natural world very interesting?
10. Could they be taught to appreciate the world around them, or is it something embedded in their core personalities (or even DNA)?

I'll leave you to answer and ponder these questions, and maybe later I'll post my thoughts on the subject. 

The Shortest Poem and a Few Other Party Tricks

As the title of the posts suggests, I'll be sharing with you the shortest poem. Or at least debating about, evaluating, and trying to find the shortest poem. First, let's define "poetry" itself.

"po·et·ry

noun
 

the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts."

 

Or as Merriam Webster Dictionary puts it:

 

-

"po·et·ry

noun \ˈpō-ə-trē, -i-trē also ˈpȯ(-)i-trē\

: something that is very beautiful or graceful"

 

 

 One last definition from good old Wikipedia:

-

"Poetry ... is a form of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language ... to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning. "

(Basically, literary art which creates more meaning than just the characters/letters/symbols it's composed of*.)

 

Something beautiful or graceful? Literary art that means something deeper? That sounds more interesting, so why don't we go with that... Here's our first contestant, a poem whose author is been lost in history, but who is suspected to be Ogden Nash, Shel Silverstien, or Strickland Gillilan. It is titled "On the Antiquity of Microbes" or more commonly: "Fleas". It reads as follows:

Fleas:

Adam

Had 'em 

The words "Adam" and the word (or maybe words) "Had 'em" don't "evoke" much meaning on their own, but put into a "literary work", the mean something much more humorous and thoughtful. So it's a poem, right? 

Muhammed Ali's:

 

Me. 

We.

 

 

Now here's one that's really interesting written by Aram Saroyan:

 

 lighght

 

It's not just "light", it seems to be a composite of two "light"s amalgamated together. Another interesting fact is that - depending on your pronunciation - four out of seven letters in this word are silent. Deeper meaning? Yes. Graceful? Yes. Poem? Maybe. 

 

There is also a poem writing by "jwcurry". It is a simple lower case "i", but the dot is instead replaced by the author's thumb print.  

And my favorite also by Aram Saroyan:

Some speculate that this is perhaps a peek into the "primordial" forming of our alphabet. The "m" and the "n" just haven't quite split. It also seems to mean "I'm", the forming of conscience. Here's some more like this that I made. 

Anyway, I'll leave it up to you to decide what the shortest poem really is. 

I also highly recommend Vsauce's "What is the Shortest Poem?", an excellent watch. 

*Yes, yes. Shoot me now, Grammar Nazis. I did end the sentence with a preposition.