UK's Prince Harry fighting in Afghanistan
Thursday, February 28, 2008
This article talked about how UK's Prince Harry has been serving on the frontline in Afghanistan
and was seen in combat. Harry was deployed 10 weeks ago. He is on patrol in the deserted town of Garmisir, Afghanistan. Harry is the third in line to the British thrown and serves with the Blues and Royals. He is a member of a group called Joint Tactical Air Control. Out on the battlefield, he's not Prince Harry but as a normal JTAC. He stated that in the end of the day, he wants to be normal and fighting in Afghanistan is as normal as he can get. His deployment to Afghanistan was kept a secret and international media agreed not to report it because of security concerns for both him and his unit. Harry has been fully involved in operations and has run the same risks as everyone in his battlegroup.
This is significant because it shows how one person, who already has a name, will go out to give credit to his country. I mean it was his choice to sign up and fight even though he is Prince Harry. I was surprised at how fighting in Afghanistan has made him seem more normal because he's not being treated as a prince and he's not letting anyone treat him like one on the battlefield.



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posted by Maryross at 2:23 PM | 0 comments

Vocab Words and Images [Week 6]
Monday, February 25, 2008
In Tae Kwon Do, after three rounds of non-stop sparring, fighters are usually in a tenuous state because of all the energy that was put into the fight.

To some people this is a large amount shoes, but as for me this amount is paucity because I have a larger Nike Dunk collection.

Record players have become an obsolete object because people are now using IPODs, mp3 players and other music playing systems.

In the Filipino movie 'My Big Love', when Macky met Ninia he was inspired to lose weight with much more tenacity.

Joseph Estrada embezzled money from the government and hid it under the name Jose Velarde. He was overthrown from presidency during the Second People Power.

Definitions:
1. Embezzle (verb) - to take dishonestly (money that has been entrusted to oneself)
2. Emaciate (verb) - to make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh
3. Obsolete (adjective) - no longer in general use; fallen into disuse
4. Obviate (verb) - to anticipate and dispose of effectively; render unnecessary
5. Penchant (noun) - a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something
6. Paucity (noun) - smallness of quantity; scarcity; scantiness
7. Sycophant (noun) - a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite
8. Taut (adjective) - tightly drawn; tense; not slack
9. Tenuous (adjective) - having little substance or strenth; shaky
10. Tenacity (noun) - persistent

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posted by Maryross at 5:15 PM | 0 comments

Documentary Proposal
Thursday, February 21, 2008
In our Iraq War documentary, we are planning to organize it in certain categories and not have all the information scattered throughout the documentary. In the beginning, we will start off by having everyone we interviewed introduce themselves and the profession they are in. It will then transition to the title of our documentary. We will have background music in the beginning and in different parts of the film, especially when showing images and clips of the war and speeches. In our documentary, we will have information on what started the Iraq war and what it going on in Iraq. We're planning to include interviews from professors who know a lot about politics, the government system and reasons/information about why we are in Iraq. We want our documentary to be a bit entertaining so that it won't bore the viewers. Some of the music that will play in the background are the types of music that are related to the war, either with lyrics or an instrumental (depending on the clip). We will show documents, interviews (political), war shots and citation of speeches. Overall we are planning to make this documentary give a general overview of the war in Iraq.

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posted by Maryross at 4:32 PM | 0 comments

St. Patrick's Day causing Catholic dilemma
Wednesday, February 20, 2008


This article talked about how the Catholic Church is facing a dilemma with St. Patrick's Day. For the first time since 1940, St. Patrick's Day falls during Holy Week which is the sacred seven days preceding Easter. Because of the coincidence that St. Patrick's Day is during Holy Week, liturgical rules dictate that there will be no Mass to honor the saint will be celebrated which was said by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Although they are asking more and want no parades or festivites happening as well on this day. However, some moved their celebration of St. Patrick earlier, before the Holy Week. In places where this Irish festical will be celebrated will be on March 14 where schools will be closed and parties will be everywhere on the streets. But there are some places where they will still celebrate St. Patrick's Day during Holy Week.

"A person was born an Irish first, then baptized Catholic." Seriously though, not everyone is baptized as a Catholic. I may be a Catholic but it's not a big deal for me if people celebrates this day because it doesn't bother me. I understand why they don't want to allow any celebration because this week is a serious week for Catholics. Although they shouldn't put it out on everyone who isn't Catholic. People know when to party and when not to. So Catholics don't have to party or participate in any festivity, especially the traditional Catholics, but let non-Catholics celebrate. That's all I have to say about this "Catholic dilemma".

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posted by Maryross at 5:45 PM | 0 comments

Vocab Words and Images [Week 5]
They say that dogs are very loyal to their owners.
"Another of our highly prized virtues is fidelity. We are immensely pleased with ourselves when we are faithful."

From all the suffering that African-Americans had to go through, it is right to have them set free or emancipated.


These people revoked against what was going with the environment and rallied for climate change to prevent global warming.
She countermanded her supervisor's order by not attending the meeting she was suppose to.

Traffic lights should be easy to understand because each color represents a certain action.
Justin had a lucid explanation about the song he wrote for his mother.

This image represents a support group that upholds or bolster people's characteristics.
He bolstered up his debate by presenting different evidences.

Definitions
1. lucidity - easily understood; completely intelligible or comprehensible
2. conciliatory - tending to conciliate
3. countermand - to revoke or cancel (a command, order, etc.)
4. acumen - keen insight; shrewdness
5. insurrection - a violent uprising against an authority or government
6. fidelity - loyalty
7. complicit -choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, esp. with others; having complicity.
8. steadfast - fixed in direction; steadily directed
9. emancipation - to set free esp. from legal, social, or political restrictions
10. bolster - to add to, support, or uphold

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posted by Maryross at 10:37 AM | 0 comments

UNCOVERED: The War On Iraq [Documentary]
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Reflection:
This documentary talked about how the war on Iraq wasn't because of the 9/11 attack but because of the weapons of mass destruction. It answered so many questions that were yet to be answered, from terrorism to the cost of war to David Kay. This documentary talked about different issues in a very organized way, where everything has its own focus and topic. The issues weren't jumping all around and in each section, evidence and information was given. It talked about how President Bush and other political speakers/personels declared war because of the WMDs that were being developed in Iraq. They are saying that Iraq is developing nuclear weapons, especially smoking guns which can be an outcome of a mushroom cloud. This documentary, in my opinion, is biased where it is counterarguing all of President Bush's statements and actions. I learned so much about what is going on in the government and in Iraq. There was so much information and evidence that was given and it made everything clear. It brought up tough issues and asked questions of the government that has yet to be answered. This portrayed a powerful case against war that's really hard to challenge. Uncovered is important for everyone to watch, not just the anti-Bush but everyone who lives in America to see what is really going on and why we're in this war in the first place.

Styles:
Positive
- Before even showing the title of the documentary, it introduced the people who were interviewed, having them state their names and occupation.
- There was a title to show what the next issue was going to be about and it stuck to that issue without jumping around.
- Well organized and gave so much evidence.
- Plenty of B-roll (still images and clips)
- Repetition of statements that politicians brought up over and over again.
- Clips of speeches, press conferences and war
- It showed both sides (America and Iraq)
- Provided articles, statements, newspapers, documents and videos.
- FACTS and STATISTICS with back up information.
- VERY INFORMATIVE

Negative
- Dry: interview after interview
- Not a lot of sound
- A little bit of voice over
- Too much still images (boring)
- Sounds (interviews) weren't consistent (sometimes loud or soft)

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posted by Maryross at 10:24 PM | 0 comments

The Things They Carried

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston, Massachusetts. Houghton Mifflin: 1990.

I selected this book because I thought that it would be appropriate to read it since we are now focusing about different types of wars. This book is a work of fiction because all in all, it's an autobiography, writer's memoirs and different short fictional stories. It is a collection of interconnected short stories. The novel takes place in the late 1960s and late 1980s in Vietnam and Massachusetts.

Plot: Tim O'Brien, the protagonist, starts off by describing an event that occurred in the middle of his Vietnam experience. "The Things They Carried" refers to the variety of things that his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company brought on their missions like guilt and fear, matches, morphine, M-16 rifles and M&M candies. Through a variety of different stories, O'Brien portrays the characters of men whom he served and shows the meaning about the war from different perspectives. Lt. Jimmy Cross, as what O'Brien described, is an inexperienced leader of the Alpha Company. He had a group of soldiers, including O'Brien, who were pretty young and unprepared for the Vietnam War. These soldiers also carried pictures of their girlfriends, sadness and confusion but don’t show it because they don't want to look silly to the other soldiers. There are times in the novel when these soldiers reveal their emotions in heartfelt or comical ways. While the soldiers are in Vietnam, they get paranoid and lose their sense of morality and justices. They become cold-hearted and angry because no one back home understands what they are going through. As the war went on, soldiers died and memories were just left. Tim knows that the stories of people's lives can bring them back to life.

Character: Tim O'Brien is a pacifist who rationalizes his participation in Vietnam by coming to the conclusion that his feelings of commitment toward his family and country are stronger influences than his own politics. In the first place, he didn't want to get drafted for the war and decided to drive off to Canada but didn't. He was drafted into the Alpha Company and was sent to Vietnam. He faces so many challenges and witnesses the killings of his fellow soldiers and killing others. When the war was over, he used his skill to tell stories in order to deal with his guilt and confusion over the things he witnessed in Vietnam. He was the protagonist of the story and describes everything that happened and everyone who was with him. In the end I feel that this character grew a lot after the war because being able to talk about what happened in order to move shows a slow progress of resiliency which is better than being traumatized your whole life.

Evaluation: I really liked this novel because although it was a mix of fiction and autobiographies, it showed different perspectives of the soldiers who fought through that war. I learned that telling stories about people can make you feel that they're closer to you, like what O'Brien did. The soldiers do this so they don't have to think about the fact that their friends are actually dead or that they just killed a real person or another human being. Stories change but the memories are kept alive by the storyteller. I would recommend this book to others because they can learn a lot about the war and what soldiers went through. I definitely recommend this book those who are interested in wars because it gives different perspectives of different people.

Tim O'Brien was born on October 1, 1946 at the beginning of the post-World War II era. He describes himself as an avid reader as a child and was into magic tricks. Like any other American kid, he spent his summer playing baseball. He was drafted for military service in 1968, two weeks after completing his undergraduate degree at Macalester in St. Paul, Minnesota. He opposed the Vietnam War and thought it was all wrong and he decided to go to Canada unlike his alter ego who decides not to go. O'Brien completed and published other major books like If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home.

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posted by Maryross at 4:46 PM | 0 comments

Pentagon Plans to Shoot Down Disabled Spy Satellite
Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Pentagon is planning to shoot down a disabled US spy satellite that is known as USA-193 or L-21. Military officials hope to strike to the satellite before it reaches the atmosphere which is expected to do in late February or early March. The reason why they want to shoot it is to prevent a deadly leak of toxic gas from the vehicle's fuel tank. President Bush decided to have the Navy shoot the 2270 kg minivan-size satellite with a modified missile. They want to see it crash into the ocean waters instead of a populated area. Since the satellite never became operational, it still has toxic rocket fuel that would have been used to move the satellite in space. If half of the satellite, which also includes the fuel tank, survives the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, there would be a crash that could spread toxic material across and area equal to two football fields.

This is significant because if the tank survives, the hydrazine (toxic) will reach the ground and there's a chance of human injuries. Contact with hydrazine is hazardous because direct contact with the skin or the eyes, ingestion or inhalations can result in immediate danger. Although is this operation is successful, the hydrazine will no longer pose a risk to human injuries. However it is hard to find an area where humans won't be at risk.

Source of Article

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posted by Maryross at 1:57 PM | 0 comments

Evidence Expert: "Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom"
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Four Questions:

1) If slavery didn't happen would there still be a Civil War?

2) Who benefited more from slavery? The slaves or the owners?

3) In what ways do you think that slavery has destroyed black families?

4) Do you think that the Civil War happened only because of slavery or are there other reasons that came up to why this war happened?

Six Excerpts:

1) "They say slaves are happy, because they laugh, and are merry. I myself and three or four others, have received two hundred lashes in the day, and had our feet in fetters; yet, at night, we would sing and dance, and make others laugh at the rattling of our chains. Happy men we must have been! We did it to keep down trouble, and to keep our hearts from being completely broken: that is as true as the gospel! Just look at it,-must not we have been very happy? Yet I have done it myself-I have cut capers in chains."

2) "Harriet Tubman, born into slavery, her head injured by an overseer when she was fifteen, made her way to freedom alone as a young woman, then became the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. She made nineteen dangerous trips back and forth, often disguised, escorting more than three hundred slaves to freedom, always carrying a pistol, telling the fugitives, "You'll be free or the." She expressed her philosophy: "There was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive...." "

3) "some negroes are determined never to let a white man whip them and will resist you, when you attempt it; of course you must kill them in that case."

4) "when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863, it declared slaves free in those areas still fighting against the Union (which it listed very carefully), and said nothing about slaves behind Union lines."

5) "these slaves had enormous power in their hands. Simply by stopping work, they could threaten the Confederacy with starvation. By walking into the Federal camps, they showed to doubting Northerners the easy possibility of using them thus, but by the same gesture, depriving their enemies of their use in just these fields...."

6) "I saw them kill my husband; it was on Tuesday night, between ten and eleven o'clock; he was shot in the head while he was in bed sick, . .. There were between twenty and thirty men.. . . They came into the room. . . . Then one stepped back and shot him . . . he was not a yard from him; he put the pistol to his head and shot him three times. . .. Then one of them kicked him, and another shot him again when he was down. . .. He never spoke after he fell. They then went running right off and did not come back again. .. ."

Five Difficult Words:

1) Penitentiary- (adj) of, pertaining to, or intended for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment.
"the penitentiary system of the South, with its infamous chain-gang. . . . "

2) Paternalistic- (n) the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, nations, etc.,
"And, interspersed with paternalistic urgings of friendship for the Negro, Joel Chandler Harris, in his Uncle Remus stories,..."

3) Attitudinal- (n) manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, esp. of the mind.
"Yes, racism was a factor but "accumulations of capital, and the men who controlled them, were as unaffected by attitudinal prejudices as it is possible to be."

4) Pusillanimity- (n) the state or condition of being pusillanimous; timidity; cowardliness.
"I was not aware that there was in the character of that race so much cowardice, or so much pusillanimity"

5) Promulgation- (v) to make known by open declaration; publish; proclaim formally or put into operation (a law, decree of a court, etc.).
He believed "that the institution of slavery is founded on injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends to increase rather than abate its evils."

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posted by Maryross at 5:33 PM | 0 comments

Music Project
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Hawak Kamay
[Holding Hands]
Yeng Constantino

A song is a short musical composition that combines melody and lyric into a harmony or rhythm. It has a structure that usually contains verses and choruses. This song, "Hawak Kamay", falls under the genre Pop-Rock.

This song was written and sung by Yeng Constantino who was a grand winner of a popular reality show in the Philippines. She created this song in 2002 when she was 14 years old. Her brief separation from her cousin who ran away, who was also her best friend, inspired her to compose this song, both lyrics and music. She wrote this song to show her assurance to her cousin that she will stand by her no matter happens in their lives.

I think this song means that if there's a problem just look up into the sky or count on your friends or family that they're always by your side no matter what. Also to not think that you're alone in life. This song was also interpreted as a love song because it sends the message of always being there for one another even if every falls apart, that one person will always be by your side.

This song has a verse-chorus structure where it is focused on the verse and contrasted or prepared by the bridge. In this form, the chorus is prepared and contrasted with the verse. The song also has a hook which are the two words Hawak Kamay which is also the title and it's what sells the song. This song is through-composed because each verse has a different rhythm or harmony. For instance, the first verse is consisted of the sounds of percussion and an acoustic guitar. The second verse is consisted of drum beats and an electric guitar. This song also has a bridge and 7 stanzas.

This song doesn't have a historical context but it is a secondary context. It is a secondary context because ever since it came out, it has been popular in the Filipino society. Different Filipino artists sang their own versions of the song. Also this song has so many meanings and all those meanings can be correct. The meaning of the song is limitless which is why it's still a big hit today both in the Philippines and in the Filipino community in the world.

This song gives inspiration to the people who think that the whole world is against them. It shows how people care for one another, friend or family. It just shows how people will always be there for the one's they care about no matter how tough life gets.

Hawak Kamay

Minsan madarama mo kay bigat ng problema
Minsan mahihirapan ka at masasabing “di ko makakaya”
Tumingin ka lang sa langit
Baka sakaling may masumpungan
Di kaya ako’y tawagin
Malalaman mong kahit kailan
[Chorus]
Hawak-kamay
Di kita iiwan sa paglakbay
Dito sa mundong walang katiyakan
Hawak-kamay
Di kita bibitawan sa paglalakbay
Sa mundo ng kawalan
Minsan madarama mo
Ang mundo’y gumuho sa ilalim ng iyong mga paa
At ang agos ng problema’y tinatangay ka
Tumingin ka lang sa langit
Baka sakaling may masumpungan
Di kaya ako’y tawagin
Malalaman mong kahit kalian
[Repeat chorus]
[Bridge]
Wag mong sabihin nag-iisa ka
Laging isipin meron kang kasama
Narito ako oh, Narito ako
[Repeat chorus]
Sa mundo ng kawalan
Hawak-kamay, Hawak-kamay
Sa mundo ng kawalan

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posted by Maryross at 7:19 PM | 0 comments

Vocab Words and Images [Week 3]
Monday, February 4, 2008
I find Sam Milby to be a good example for resiliency because ever since he appeared in the Philippines, he has been attacked by the media negatively but he is able to move on and recover completely. (He's a Filipino artist o.O)

I play basketball with a sanguine personality to motivate my team to play aggressively and to show the other team who's best.


People who doesn't have energy usually drinks energy drinks to get their feet back on the ground. Although there is a possibility that they can relapse back to their tired state and can increase a risk of harm to themselves by drinking energy drinks.

Everytime I go to New York, I always pass by ground zero. As I look around, some tourists austerely stares at the ground zero cross, remembering all the lives that were taken away.


The lady is disseminating the fishes on the wall in order to dry evenly in the sun.


Definitions
1. Disseminate (v) - To scatter widely
2. Eloquence (n) - the power of expressing feelings or thoughts in words that impress or move other people
3. Austere (adj) - grave; sober; solemn; serious
4. Baleful (adj) - pernicious/ or sinister
5. Bigot (n) - a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
6. Relapse (n) - falling back into a former state(v) - to fall back into vice
7. Repudiate (v) - to cast off or disown
8. Resilience (n) - ability to recover completely from illness, depression
9. Sanguine (adj) - cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident
10. Renovate (v) - to restore to good condition

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posted by Maryross at 2:11 PM | 0 comments

Someone Like You
Dessen, Sarah. Someone Like You. New York. Penguin Group: 2004.

I chose to read this novel because I wanted to read another book that talked about friendship and life. My cousin recommended the author, Sarah Dessen, because she wrote a few books about this topic and she said that I would enjoy any of her books. This is a teen fiction that talks about friendship and romance. This story takes place modern today in a place called Lakeview, which is an unspecified suburban.

Someone Like You depicts a year in the life of two 16-year old best friends. Scarlett and Halley have been bet friends since they were eleven ever since Scarlett moves in their neighborhood. Scarlett is much bolder and confident while Haley was quiet, shy and laid back. During the summer, before the two starts their junior year of high school, Scarlett falls in love with Michael Sherwood and the day that she sleeps with him for the first time, he is killed in a motorcycle accident. Halley, who was on a camping trip in the Grand Canyon and was, going through the phase of separating herself from her mother, comes home to be with Scarlett and attend the funeral. Halley stood by Scarlett's side and being the strong one, instead of the other way around. Halley then begins to fall for Michael's best friend, Macon Faulkner and Scarlett learns that she is pregnant with Michael's baby. Scarlett struggles with deciding of whether to keep the baby or get rid of it, like what her mom wants her to do. But Scarlett decides to keep the child. As Scarlett's pregnancy begins to show, their lives begin to change. Scarlett has to face her mom's expectations and the disapproval from other people, while Halley struggles to distance herself from her mom who is very much controlling and is making her not see Macon anymore. Halley then starts keeping secrets from her mom and sneaking out to see Macon. Their relationship gets stronger and Macon starts forcing Halley to have sex with him while Scarlett tells her that it won't be a good idea. One night Halley gets drunk and Macon drives her home, which is also drunk, and ends up getting in an accident where Halley was injured. In the hospital, Macon didn't even want to see Halley and that's when she realizes that she deserves better than him. Scarlett then goes through labor during their prom and Halley stays by her all the way. Scarlett had a baby girl and names it Grace Halley. This is when Halley realizes what life is all about.

Halley Cooke is quiet, shy and laid back. She has a close relationship with her mother, but begins to separate from her when she goes off to a camping trip. Halley experiences being the stronger friend for Scarlett instead of the other way around She then falls for Macon who her mother does not like and forbids her to see him. She goes through the phase "old me" and "new me". As the story goes on, Halley begins to grow and learn from her mistakes. She learns how to be herself and respect herself. She was an interesting character to follow because it shows someone growing up and learning how to just be herself.

I really enjoyed this book because Sarah Dessen used so much descriptive words to depict the life of these two girls. I liked how the author describes everything, from setting to the actions and feelings of a character. It's a book that teens, especially girls, should read because it teaches so many life lessons. I recommend this book because it's a relaxing book to read and it teaches how to just be yourself and respect yourself.

Sarah Dessen has written so many other books. A lot of her books were turned into movies, like the book How to Deal. A lot of her books talk about friendship, love and life. As a child, she as already started writing and is a big reader. She was born in Illinois but grew up in North Carolina. She had a huge imagination as a child and used her imaginations in her writings.

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posted by Maryross at 1:02 PM | 0 comments

FBI wants palm prints, eye scans, tattoo mapping
In this article, it's saying that the FBI wants to creatw a huge computer database of people's physical characteristics because it will be part of the effort to better identify criminals and terrortists. Although it's an issue that raises privacy concerns that Americans face. The bureau is expected to announce a 10-year contract to help create a database that will compile biometric information from palm prints to eye scans. They will also be collecting images of scars and tattoo placements. By doing this, they believe it will protect the borders to keep terrorists out, protect our citizens, neighbors, children so they can have good jobs and to have a safe country to live in. But having the FBI collect this much personal information is causing issues of privacy concern. The ACLU is pointing out that this type of surveillance will be the start ob being able to trace your movements, activities etc. Although the counterarguement for this is that it will also help employers see if their employees had trouble with the law at some point. Also it will show if employees are qualified to work with children of the elders.

This doesn't really bother in any way because if it will protect my identity, then ok. Although if it starts gather too much personal information about me, then of course I would react. Overall they could come up with more ways to try and protect everyone in the country and better securtiy, but if it goes too far where people's information is being collected (activities, movements, etc.) that would be too much.

Source of Article

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posted by Maryross at 12:29 PM | 0 comments