Capital Punishment

So the other day i was skimming through the newspaper when a particular headline caught my eye. It was regarding the execution of the death row convicts involved in the assassination of India's former Prime Mister, Rajiv Gandhi. The article went on to say that after they were sentenced to death in Jan.1998 they sent a petition to review their case. These petitions were dismissed and the convicts sent clemency petitions to the governor which too were dismissed. Eventually in the year 2000, they sent a petition to the President, asking for a presidential pardon. Eleven years after this request was sent and twenty years after the crime was actually committed, these petitions were rejected in the first week of this month and the three convicts are scheduled to be hanged on the ninth of September.
 My initial reaction on reading this article was why did it take eleven years for the request for the presidential pardon to be denied. They are convicts who killed many people and injured more. They deserve to die. But them i thought about it again and changed my original decision. I realized that the death sentence is barbaric and wrong. This sudden change in heart was due to the following reasons.
 I realized that the main aim of the punishing body should be to reform criminals and not kill them. This will only come by self realization and life imprisonment will provide a criminal much time to think of his actions.
My second argument is that I really don't think that the death penalty provides much solace to the family and friends of the victim. Mahatma Gandhi said that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.In the light of this we can say that the blood of the convicts will be on the hands of the family of the victim who pressed for the charges. After the prosecution is carried out I'm not sure if they will be at peace or will feel guilty, not for the convicts but their families (as they themselves know what it is like to loose someone close to you). I think that the death penalty is basically for the enjoyment of the third party.
 Right, so third point. The passing of the death penalty as we have seen in takes a long time, usually more than ten years (in this case twenty years) to pass. This also requires much money. My question is is - is it actually worth spending these large sums of money on criminals, when a much quicker and cheaper option in the form of life imprisonment is also present. As i mentioned earlier life imprisonment will also give these men a chance to reform.
 My last point is that even if all the evidence points to a certain person, one can never completely be sure that it was that person who committed the crime. There was a movie, I forget the name, in which there  was a group fighting for the abolition of capital punishment. Suddenly one member of this group was killed and all the evidence pointed to a man. So this man was sentenced and killed. It wasn't till after that the execution was carried out that this team working for the abolition of the death penalty revealed that the lady had killed herself and the lady along with the convicted man had planned it such that all the evidence pointed towards the man. this brings me back to the point that one can never be sure and it is not right to take an individuals life unless you are absolutely sure (which as pointed out, in most cases is not possible).
 So after going through all these points in my head, I realized that the death penalty is wrong. Tell me what you think of the death penalty. There is a poll question addressing this matter. Be sure to answer that and while you're at that hit the follow button....       
   

Homework

Students from all over the world, no matter from which country, no matter which language they speak and no matter which syllabus they follow are all united by one common problem, homework. Hey this is fire boy 11 and today's topic is homework. In my opinion homework is more of a burden on us students rather than a benefit.I say this for the following reasons.
 Teachers can argue all they want about how homework is beneficial but I' not ready to accept. They say that homework is a great way to familiarize ourselves with the chapters so it wont be completely new while studying for the exams. But i don't agree as about ninety percent of the class (including me) do their homework in the last minute, copying it from the remaining ten percent who actually took the trouble of doing it.
 From the top if my head I can think of two better alternatives to homework and other assignment. The first being tests. I know that tests are a pain but i feel that they are better than homework. Considering that students must eventually learn a set amount of chapters I feel that it is better to study it in small chunks over a long period of time as this will reduce the stress and pressure on the students during the days leading up to the exams. Some will argue that it is possible that students will cheat during a test but either ways they are practicing their means to get marks in the final exam which is the aim of these tests. 
 Another alternative to homework is oral presentations. Here the matter, like in homework can be copied from another person, but the way you present yourself during the presentation can not be copied. Furthermore in an oral presentation you must learn your content and cant read of a paper and therefore your knowledge on that topic will increase. Also such presentation will take much lesser time to plan for those who actually do it themselves. Fist of all it mustn't be hand written and can be typed. Also you may copy it from another website and edit it giving your own twist to the subject. This will not take that much time.
 So basically to sum it all up i feel that homework is not beneficial to students, other than those who do it sincerely as it can be easily copied.Much better options are tests or oral presentations as they take lesser time to prepare (in oral presentations), allowing you more time to 'study' and will prepare you for the final examination which ultimately is the goal.
 so those are my opinion, I would love to hear yours. Leave a comment or make a post on your blog and leave a link. Also while you're at it hit the follow button. On a side not what are you're religious beliefs? Why do you believe in god(or if you don't why not?)...
 

Time Travel - The pros and the cons

Hey this is fire boy 11 and today I'm going to rant about time travel. The concept of time travel has been  present in the world of science for ages. However in modern years it has been proven theoretically that time travel is indeed possible. I'm not going to bore you with how this has been prove, because quite frankly I'm not too sure myself. But what i am going to do is write my opinion if in the future time travel is possible.
Ok so lets consider that about fifty years from now time travel is possible. One major question we need to ask ourselves is if time travel will be a boon or burden to society.
 Lets first have a look at the pros of time travel. I guess the main benefit of time travel would be prevention calamities and losses of life, property and money. For example the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Tsunami which hit Japan caused much loss of life.However if we can go back into the past and warn the people of these events beforehand, then the losses can be minimized. Similarly wars can be stopped and terrorism can be countered
 Time travel can also be used for the good of humanity. Lets consider economy. Countries, using time travel, can go into the future can look at the state of their economy. If it is bad and it is falling then they can find the root cause, come back to the present and work to combat this cause. Similarly if their economy is flourishing and is on the rise then they can come back to the present and help other developing countries boost their economy just like they would go on to do. In a much larger scale time travel can be used to save mankind. This may sound very far out and movie like but in case some incident occurs which threatens the very existence of life in Earth such that it is too late to combat this problem, then people can go back into the past ans warn society about this threat of the future.
 In my opinion the cons list of time travel is bigger than the pros list. First of all even if time travel was possible and it was used to do all the things i listed on my pros list, I think no one in the 'past' will believe a person if they come up to them and say that they are from the future. I mean think about how bizarre that sounds. Hence it is hard to believe that many such calamities will be prevented at all.
 My second point is that time travel will help change the way in which the future plays out. Though this may be a benefit in some cases in others it may not. I say this because this will allow a person to change the fate of some other person, for better or for worse, without that persons knowing.  I feel that this is not good. Also time travel will make crime like murder, arson and robbery so simple. People will just go back in time to a year maybe even before the year they were born and loot as much money as they want and come back in the present. The looted will not be able to catch him as at that time he was neither born nor was time travel invented.
Another point of inconvenience is time travel will lead to paradoxes such as the grandfather paradox. The paradox is this: suppose a man traveled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveler's grandmother. As a result, one of the traveler's parents (and by extension the traveler himself) would never have been conceived. This would imply that he could not have traveled back in time after all, which means the grandfather would still be alive, and the traveler would have been conceived allowing him to travel back in time and kill his grandfather. Thus each possibility seems to imply its own negation. Such paradoxes are ill logical and the end result is unknown.
So there you have it - my opinion on time travel. I would love to hear your views so please leave a comment and while you're at it hit the follow button.
 Here's some food for thought. If you go back into the past and murder yourself is it still suicide?         

The change scam...

I'm sure we all know at least one person who along with being really stupid has a lot of money which they are willing to spend. When i heard of this scam i wasn't completely sure that it would work, but when i eventually tried it, the results were pretty good.
 So i was at school. it was a Thursday and the time table on Thursday is the worst. I decided to lighten up the day with a scam. I was talking to this girl when i remembered this scam. I felt for the cash in my pocket. Feeling it there i put my hand in and took out the crumpled twenty rupee note. Casually i asked the girl i was talking to if she had two tens she would give me for the twenty. She put her hand into her bag and took out two tens. I noticed a piece of paper on my desk. I wrapped the three notes (one twenty and two tens) in the paper making a sort of make shift envelope. My friend (who is was trying this scam on) stood there not sure of what was happening. I told her that i was willing to sell the 'envelope' containing' forty bucks for just thirty rupees. She thought for a moment and agreed. After all she would be making a ten rupee profit (or thats what she thought). So the transaction was made and i became ten rupees richer.
 For those people who didn't understand how i made a profit here is the explanation. When put her twenty and my note in the paper i had contributed just twenty rupees and she contribute twenty. Therefore when i sell it for thirty rupees i am actually making a ten rupee profit.
 This scam may appear too stupid to actually work. Even i thought so in the beginning. After trying it on this girl i also asked a few other people if they would make this exchange if they were given the chance, and they said that they would. So before you label this scam as a stupid one i suggest you try it at least once. And this should be done on someone who isn't very quick witted. If you have any questions post a comment. I would love to hear your success and failure stories. So leave a comment. Any variations of this scam is welcome. Also follow my blog..      

The 'Burqa Ban' in France

There has been much debate on this topic and i know that I am a few months late, but to hell with it all, I want to talk about the burqa ban too.
 So on the eleventh of April (i think) France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim population banned the burqa. Well the law technically stated that people are not allowed to cover their faces in public places, but women wearing the burqa were the only people who are going to be affected by this.
 In my opinion this is extremely unfair. France has passed this law to enhance the liberty of women to dress freely in public. But in my opinion banning the burqa is not a suitable solution.I say this because that there are probably many Muslim women who want to wear the burqa and enforcing this ban will curtail the rights of women to dress freely, the root cause of this law. And if you say that all women are forced into wearing the burqa, i will say that is nonsense. If was so, that all Muslim women were forced to wear the burqa, then why would there be so many women, wearing the burqa and protesting against this new law.
 Another area i would like to touch upon is the religious and social aspect. If a women feels that wearing a burqa helps her connect to god, then who is the government to tell her that she cant. Also just like from a young age girls are told not to wear revealing clothes, or dress in a certain way in public, just like that in a the Muslim society maybe it is looked down upon if you don't wear a burqa (this part I'm just guessing. I'm not fully sure). After that it is your choice what kind of clothing you choose to wear.
I was watching this video and a very valid point was made in it. She said that things are very different from  society to society. the burqa may seem bizarre to the western society, however to other societies maybe the concept of body piercings may seem bizarre. I mean when you think about it, piercing holes in your body for decoration does sound pretty weird
 So those are my opinions. Let me know your opinion. Leave a comment or make a post on your blog and leave a link...          

Thats just sick....

Damn, the world just got worse. this is fire boy 11 and yesterday a college girl was strip searched as she was suspected to be carrying her phone within the college campus.  
 According to me that's just outrageous. I mean i understand that phones may not be allowed inside the campus but this is no way to check. 
 My first argument is that this is immoral and wrong. It will probably psychologically scar this girl for a very long time, if not for life. From what i hear, college is supposed to me the most happening and fun time in one's life ( i wouldn't know as i am still in high school, but adults always talk all nostalgically about their college days). Just think about this girl about twenty years down the line. If she meets her old college friends they will all be talking about how great college was. perhaps how the met their partner in college. or maybe it was in college that they, for the first time felt complete independence. Whatever it is, for this girl college will be associated with the memory of her being stripped and searched. We all talk about bullying being bad (which it is), but in my opinion it is as bad if not worse, but there are no consequences as it is done by teachers.
 My second argument is that I'm sure that this isn't constitutionally right. I mean it cant be legal to strip someone for a phone. i mean its just a phone. Forget a phone, in my book it is morally wrong to strip someone, even for a bomb, unless you have proper reason to believe that they are in possession of it.
 I honestly hope that the teachers who carried out this face proper consequences. To the girl i doubt that this will matter as to her the damage is done. but consequences should be set to prevent repetitions of such incidents in the future. I would love to know what you feel about this incident. Also what is the harshest punishment that you were faced with in school or college. Please leave a comment, and while you'r at it hit the follow button......  
  

The race...

Hey this is me again and this time i'm gonna talk to you about this gag i pulled on my friend a few months back. This gag is known as 'the race'.  Before i start i would like to say that this scam is not original and no credit should be given to me. i came across it one day when i was browsing through the net.
 So i was at this party. it was going fine. good food, decent music, but in my mind this party wouldn't be complete unless i pulled a scam on someone (the look on their faces once they realize that they have been scammed is legendary). so i called this girl (incidentally this was the girl who's house the party was in) and told her that i could drink three large glasses of water before she could finish three shot glasses filled with water. she seemed a little unsure so i upped the ante and said i would have to drink three and a half glasses. she agreed rather hesitantly (i have a reputation of being some sort of con man among my friends) and we both went on to put ten bucks on the table. i poured out the the glasses. a feeling of doubt had started creeping into me. i had never tried this gag before and if i lost my own bet i would never be able to show my face in front of this girl again. i poured the glasses and laid forward the rules. the rules were simple. Whoever finished their water first without any outside interference first would be the winner. Also we couldn't touch each other (or it would turn into some sort of brawl) nor could we touch each others glasses (this rule is very important. you'll see why in a moment). With a signal from a friend we started the race. I quickly finished my glass which was half filled and slammed it face first over one of her glasses which was full. i don't think she fully understood what had happened and as she spread her hand to remove my glass form hers i reminded her that we couldn't touch each others glasses. She just stood their with this blank expression on her face. i quickly downed my other two glasses and won the bet. i felt sorry for the girl as it happened to be her birthday so i told her she didn't have to pay me. she paid me anyway ( i guess she appreciated the elegance of the scam.
 i haven' used this scam since then although it is a really good one. while performing this gag great caution should be taken while laying down the rules, especially the fact that the competitors can't touch each others glasses. I will gladly answer any questions that arise regarding this gag. Also feel free to give in your own variations to this scam. i would love to hear your success as well as failure stories.
 On a side note.  With the Barclays English premiere league coming up i would love to know who you support and who you think will win....   

Hey, this is fire boy 11. This is my first blog so I'm sorry if this doesn't match up to any set standards. so as the URL suggests on this blog i am going to post tutorials to certain gags that will make your friends look like retards and make you a whole lot richer. Other than that I'm not really sure as to what to post so suggestions are welcome....