Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is the monument, the doctrine of the individual. No other piece of work, no person has ever been able to fully capture and understand the individual the way Ayn Rand did. She wrote of the movers of the Earth who built things, who progressed, and struggled to do things their way. Atlas Shrugged is about the collapse, and the rebirth of a nation.


Atlas Shrugged is centered around Dagny Taggart, the vice president of Taggart Transcontinental. She struggles to save her company in a world where the individuals value means nothing as the current state of the world decreases with the demand of equality- not the equality of rights, but the equality of property which causes peoples states rising up globally. The government passes legislation denouncing the rights of industry and promotes rights for the morally just. The other industrialists of Copper, Steel, coal, and oil disappear and seem to have let go of the human spirit, or have they?


It is fun to compare our modern world to Atlas Shrugged because with many of the new debated laws and the ideas of politics, America seems much closer than it did fifty years ago. I probably shouldn't say it, but Frankin D. Roosevelt was a very liberal president. He is a classic example of the much older symbols of socialism. Today we can use modern political figures like President Obama in the perspective of not only nationalized healthcare and how he intends to negotiate with terrorists in civilian court, but his politics- pushing his own agenda despite the demands of the general population. Or Al Gore for example. The rotten liar. He has insulted the intelligence of mankind by fooling them that progress actually sets our ecosystem in reverse. For you not familiar, Gore runs the IPCC which in fact, has lied provided false information of human related global warming. Now do not get me wrong, I do not dislike liberals, when I say the word liberal, I only use it to sum up the general ideology in it.


I read that in a survey, Atlas Shrugged was the second most influential book in the world, second only to the Bible. Look it up if you don't believe me. By the way, it is the 37th top book sold on Amazon.com, by the way. Now these statistics seem unreasonable for such a conservative book, but it is highly popular among Liberatarians and Republicans. I love fox news because they can explain what happens in the world like it is, very much like Atlas Shrugged.



Atlas Shrugged has been the greatest book I have ever read. It has transformed my values and , opinions, and my thought process. Sometimes I think that I should be the most hated guy in the world for believing in it. It has contradicted everything I learned in school. In fact, I think people respect the way I think of things and it has strengthened my relationship with my dad. My dad also loves the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Besides that fact, Atlas Shrugged has defined my thought process. I have always thought in this perspective, but it made me realize the motives and the purposes in people.

The Great Debate of Rwanda

The my group, the Rwandan Armed Forces, was one of the most offensive parties and we got the blame on others. Our defence on genocide was always'" Interhamwe". I launched a cruel war on the United Nations criticizing that the U.N. could not live up to its functions by stopping genocide on Earth. We did not attack France because they helped us supply for the military. I did not attack Belgium because everyone else focused on giving Belgium the blame. Many times as I attacked the Red Cross, or the U.N., I attacked their leadership for not encouraging interference, and his cool attitude and detachment on the subject. The Red Cross was attacked because they kept themselves out of it and I felt that they as an organization for the global general health had a responsibility in ther. I did not at all attack the United States because I thought that the U.S. did not have any obligation to go into my country. I attacked RPF and Paul Kagame for provoking the war and killing everybody. He represents a minority group anyway. Hutus are five times greater population and if the majority rule, it would secure peace. So over all this, it was interesting to take the side of this using the other groups point of view and helps you understand each role better.





After the Rwandan debate, I had to side against what I really felt about because I had to side on the dark side. I do not believe that the Rwandan Armed Forces was right or not necessarily anyone, but I attacked other groups to look the best, and when someone blamed us on something we actually did, we just told them we did not have anything to do with genocide, it was all their fault. It looked as if the fault came from Belgium, the United Nations and Romeo, Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Patriotic Front and especially the Interhamwe. I thought that us, The Rwandan Armed Forces was just as guilty as RPF and Paul Kagame. I guess I must be the best debater for repelling all attack on us and destroying others. You might say I would be a good politician. I think you are right. This layout is a great organizational way to learn the material better, with a little more fun.

What Emerson Forgot

Emerson 's argument in The "American Scholar" is not completely true in a form that defines the strength of individuals of a society.



The problem in the world today is people, or society.Each person inside of themselves has an individual. The individual is not a public display, it keeps things holy inside of them, it protects their soul. When that individual has been given up for a public sacrifice, the person dies and becomes a machine. Each society has demanded the sacrifice of man's soul- includes loves dreams talents, to be distributed amongst all for the good of others. When people give up everything they love for the good of others, they kill, murder, sacrifice, suicide, whatever you want to call it. The thinking man knows himself and not anyone else. The strongest individuals will survive the test of a society to live together, to mutually exchange the benefits of other individuals in the world.



The individual explores. I am myself, the individual,(joke). Referring to King Louis XIV of France"I am myself, the state". Many of the things individuals can explore include many subjects of our public school system. As and individual, my interest involves hisory and science. I have always been interested in science and history through my life, but more recently in the past three years have learned about every possible empire and ruler that ever existed! Physics have always interested me, because I want to become an engineer one day. Engineering is something Emerson loves because it is creative, and I express me as an individual by keeping up with my history. History helps me have a better understanding of the world. Not everyone is like the individual though, and that is what is wrong with the world. If everyone thought for themselves, we would be much more advanced and have a crimeless world.

Kitty Kat

One of the most influential living thing in my life that warms my day and makes me feel better is my cat. My cat's name is Felix. He is a Ragdoll that is white with blue eyes, a grey tail, and a grey face. Felix is four years old and weighs 17 pounds and likes to hang around me. I would like to show you my cat's life.



Every morning when I wake up, my cat follows me around and likes to be petted. He typical rolls over on his back and he puts his paws down. When I pet him he starts to purr and when I walk away he looks at me with his big blue eyes. As I head down for breakfast he jumps up on his tree and meows at me to feed him. I never do though because that is my sister's job.



After I have left for school with my dad who goes to work, my cat begs for food from my sister. My cat likes to eat a lot, and since we feed him about half of what we used to, he eats it all in the morning.When Sarah leaves, he usually hangs out in the family room where he can watch our canary. Felix many times has tried to hunt our canary, and we had to move all the furniture away from the cage. I think the cat gets hyper and wants the bird most is when our bird sings.

When my dad returns home for lunch, my cat sometimes visits with him by jumping up on our kitchen table which is low enough for him to jump on. My dad likes Felix a lot, and the cat usually sleeps at my dad's feet every night. When I come home from school, I pet my cat and he takes away the pressures of my school where it sometimes seems like an uphill battle against two thousand students, and probably one hundred and fifty teachers. One day recently, I gave Felix a piece of bologna and he ate it off my hand and licked the grease off.

Right around dinnertime my dog Oscar goes to stalk the cat. He chases Felix around the house and bites off bits of kitty fur. I always think it is funny when animals use their instincts to go and hunt. Just like my dog who hunts the cat, and my cat hunts the bird.Then after an unsuccessful day of hunting, they lay down and take a nap.

Later after I have finished my homework, I go downstairs to discuss politics with my dad and to go and see my cat. My cat is usually on the couch watching FOX News with my dad anyway, so I do not have to look very far for him.

My cat has a big part of my social aspect of my life. He makes me feel good about myself. I think that everyone should have a cat like Felix. To see more ragdoll cats like mine, go to http://catsabout.com/od/breedpictures/ig/Ragdoll-Cat-Photos/.

The Hockey Game

I love going to hockey games. Last weekend I went to go see the Plymouth Whalers with my dad to see them play the Spitfires from Windsor, Canada.



Hockey games is the best entertainment in the world. Every time you watch hockey there is the excitement and emotions that are unique to the hockey game. I was focused on watching the left defensemen because that is my position on my own team.



About half an hour before the game started we got there. I have not been to the Whalers in over a year, so I was extremely excited and it was on my mind the whole weekend. We walked around the arena and found our seats. Our seats were in the third row on a corner, and we were the only ones sitting in that row. I liked it because it was private, and it was not crowded at all. After walking down to get our seats, my dad bought pizza for me. Since they have a pizza restaurant outside the rink that was crowded, we bought from a vendor who sold the same kind of pizza around the rink. I had two slices before the game started.



When the first period started, I tried to focus my attention on the left defensemen. The Whalers played very different hockey than midgets do because the whalers skated very fast and had forty second line changes, ( midgets is the age level of hockey I play in). I noticed that the defensemen did mostly the same things that I did on the ice. My dad and I sat on the visitors side, so every time the Canadians scored a goal, everyone cheered. I thought that the Whalers played a very bad game, and I thought they would loose because they were outplayed.



In intermission my dad and I talked about how the Canadians love the English Queen Elizabeth II so much and that even though they are an independent country for about 150 years, they are still culturally part of the crown. Later we bought nachos and Pepsi. The second period was a disaster for the Whalers. They did not score any goals and put forth little effort to challenge their enemies. The only thing that kept me from cheering the Canadians was the fact that they were Canadians.



The third period went by fast for me. I think it was because I was having too much fun with my dad.I watched the whole period. It was very intense and I chewed popcorn very fast. I think the Whalers tried their best in this period, even though they had hardly any shots and it seemed like a lost cause. About one minute before the game ended we left our seats and watched from the entrance and ran out into the parking lot after the last second ended to beat traffic.

The Korean Nuisance

Over 60 years ago the war against the Germans and the Japanese Empire ended, leaving the disputed continental territories of Japan in the hands of Americans and Soviets, (The continental possessions of Japan prior to WWII were Korea as well as Manchuria), creating a mess that will probably last throught the 21st century.

We had single-handedly defeated the Japanese. Korea was ours to take. We had occupied the southern half of Korea, while we left the northern half to the inhuman Soviets who installed an evil dictator who made himself a god. Then not surprisingly, the thing that ruled a fantasy empire invaded South Korea. We went to war and almost defeated the North Koreans, until our modern good trading buddies the Chinese pushed our advance almost to where it was before the war started, and our front remains there today, only now they have industrial strength and much stronger allies.

The aftermath of WWII is not over. We let the comrades of Asia swallow up our victory. What have they installed, an evil dictator who has nukes! We had a chance to liberate and unite Korea fifty years ago when Chairman Mao, the (Chinese victor of the Korean War) was executing millions of men so he could build his great factories which today Americans buy their dolls from,( China was a very weak country under Chairman Mao's time). The Korean Nuisance today that the Soviets installed drives limousines, and lives the worlds finest lifestyle while keeping his citizens under his iron boot.

About fifty years later, in 2009, as I write this article, the Korean nuisance Kim Jong II, son of a God, is going to follow his fathers footsteps in his version of South Korea. It is obvious because of his ability to create fear over the world every time he test fires a nuke! If we do not stop that subhuman, one day we might get our foreign outpost run over by the N. Korean Steamroller!

However, I do not believe that the American politicians are willing enough to bother with Korea. We must keep in mind that it was the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor sixty years ago; it was the Russians in the Cuban Missle Crisis, and it was Chairman Mao who led the Cultural Revolution. If we lost Korea the last truly democratic nation with a presence in E. Asia will have left all security of liberly and freedom to a large part of Asia.


To learn more about North Korea's nuclar tests, go to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522098,00.html

A History of The Tsars Russia

The Tsars ruled the country of Russia for hundreds of years, and thansformed the lowly, half-barbaric State of Rus into the great country it is today.

The History of the Tsar's Russia is very interesting. At first the city of Kiev,(today in Ukraine), was founded by the Vikings around 800, and it was called the State of Rus. The Byzantine Empire converted the Slavs to eastern orthodox, and were heavily influenced by them. Eventually Rus broke away from the Vikings and became an independent state. Later, in the 1200's, the Mongolian Golden Horde swept through Russia, burning Moscow and damaging Kiev. The Russians were not a powerful state back then, so it ad to pay tribute to the Mongols to leave them alone.

In the 1400's, Ivan the III married the last niece of the Byzantine Emperor, before Constantinople fell to the Turkish Sultanate Mohammad the II. Ivan III, called Moscow The Third Rome". Ivan the III built the Kremlin, as it stands today. His son, Ivan the IV, built St.Basil's Cathedral at the Kremlin for its victories against the Mongols at Kazan and Astrakhan.

In The 1600's, Peter The Great, transformed the poor , small isolated Russia into the nation we know today. He is famous for founding St. Petersburg, the capitol of the Tsars, so he could trade with Western Europe. He also gained The Baltic provinces of Sweden in The Great Northern War, to secure his control on the Baltic. At this time, the Russian Navy was founded.

In the 1700's, Catherine The Great completed Russia's modernization. She won the Crimea, and Georgia, both controlled by Turkey,(Russia's Enemy), and completed Russia's Siberian expansion. She is famous for murdering her husband, Tsar Peter III, in a, "Hunting Accident".

In the 1800's, Tsar Alexander II won the Napoleonic Wars in Russia, pushing them back from Moscow, all the way back to Paris. Alexander the II is also famous for freeing the old system of serfdom.

In the Mid-1800's, Tsar Alexander III is famous for starting construction of the great Trans-Siberian Railroad with lots of loans from France, (Russia's Ally). The reason France invested in Russia was they feared that the German state of Prussia might thy to conquer them, and they knew they would need Russia's help and his subjects were spread out far away.

The last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, son of Alexander III, won World War I with the Germans, losing Poland from a Soviet Treaty while he was still alive. By the end of World War I, he had lost his power to the Soviet Revolution before he was shot in Ekaterinburg with his family.

In Search of Solitude; A Tale of Two Cafeterias

The Stevenson High School South Cafeteria was a loose environment where everyone could catch up on gossip, and meet up with friends from last year. It made the other students feel safe, protected by the many students who they trusted, because they did not trust themselves, when long ago most gave up everything that they enjoyed to fit in with everyone else. Such was the life of my fellow students.

I strutted happily into the South Cafeteria as if it were a classroom, and sat opposite of my friend Ali and her friends. I was happy because my math teacher was very warm and polite, which made a peaceful atmosphere of learning experience. It relieved me of my Geometry worries this year. I said, "Hello", to everyone at the table and smiled at them. I remembered the thought that made me feel good around these people, which was that I gave them nothing, and I expected nothing which allowed me to be part of such a group while securing my independence. There were not many relationships like this, and I was proud of it. I called it, "A Confederacy".

Ali, who I met in seventh grade, was my only friend. I gave her the quiet solemn respect as one of the most understanding people I knew. I saw her at the swim club a couple of times over the summer, and I called her on my cell phone. Most of the summer however, she was away at band camp. Ali was tall, had long brown hair that went slightly past her neck, and she has light blue eyes that seemed say, "I love being here".

Ali enjoyed the company of friends. They all shared stories of marching band camp and joked about their teachers they got. At one point, Ali said to her friends, "Stevenson is a very large school much different than Holmes. It will take some getting used to, but I am sure by the time we graduate, we will have forged friendships that will last a lifetime". I agreed, but I was not good at group socializing, so I thought of the gentle, peaceful sound of Rhapsody I listened to by Rachmaninoff, while scanning the cafeteria.

I observed that the cafeteria seemed small with many people- like a large barn that filled as more cows entered. The only difference it seemed was that we came to the cafeteria to rest from learning, and cows go to the barn to sleep. It was loud, crowded, and smelled of pizza and of the shaggy kid at the other table of whose gender I could not tell. I took a bite of my tuna fish sandwich. My bread felt soggy, like it was hastily made the night before, and spent several hours in the refrigerator. The lettuce leaves crunched against my teeth while the tomato gushed out juice adding sweetness to my fishy sandwich that smelled of mayonnaise. I enjoyed the taste of tuna and chewed and chewed viciously like a wolf eating its dinner. I wanted to take a hike down yonder to the North Cafeteria. I thought it would be more pleasant because of its spacious aisles, and long tables that seemed as endless as Newburgh Road. When I finished, I excused myself and walked into the hall.

The hallways reminded me of a circus. A circus where clowns lied, cheated, and entertained every other clown in the hall. They searched for a reason of existence, and saw it in the eyes of their classmates. I was not popular, because I refused to sell myself to humanity because I sought for truth and knowledge which made other clowns aware of their indecency, so I was often rejected.

When I reached the North Cafeteria, I noticed whole columns of vacant seats and more space than the congested traffic in the South Cafeteria. This cafeteria was more orderly than and not as loud as the South Cafeteria. I said quietly, "Under no circumstances will I eat in the South Cafeteria until should I ever submit to their bromide". I saw many people that I knew from eighth grade there, and they acted differently when I talked to them alone. When I stood there, some saw me in the hallway, and looked at me like they knew I wanted to speak to them, but they made no invitation or move to see me. I knew that they were controlled by the power of their friends. I laughed out loud. It amused me that I didn't need a crowd to guess at my own happiness, because I knew that I made and lived for my own happiness, in my own, individual, and completely independent way.

The ABC's of Myself

A is for Atlas Shrugged. It is my favorite book in the world. A also stands for Anthem. They both are books that stands for freedom, and the heroic of man and his individual accomplishments. These books by Ayn Rand will help to make you understand me better.


B is for Bass. At school and on the weekends I play my bass. In school we work hard on our instruments by tuning, and intonation. B is also for Belgium. I was born there, and this is why my name is spelled NIKOLAAS, and I am proud of it.


C is For Civilization. On my spare time on the weekends I play a computer game called Civilization. On it, you pick a civilization, and try to become the wealthiest, most technically advanced, most cultural, and the most powerful civilization in the world. C is also for capitalism. Capitalism is the most noble concept that any man can live under. He earns what he does in his life, and nothing is given to him or guided him except his own truth, and ambitions.


D is for dogs. I like dogs, and I have an English Bulldog at home.


E is for egotism. Out of all the descriptions one could give for me, a am the most egotistical person you will ever meet, and I am proud to to be able to say that.


F is for Felix. I have a soft and furry cat who likes me to pet him, probably because I feed him.


G is for German. At school I am taking German 2. G is for Global Education, the subject that I love to be in the classroom for, and frustrated with my homework.


H is for hockey. H is also for hamburgers. H is for history. H is also for honesty; because I never lie to myself.


I is for individualistic. I believe that that nobody in my school could ever make and connection and think I am like anyone else, and I like being unique.


J is for just. I always make a fair judgement of things that I think about.


K is for knowledgeable. I have an infinite extension of knowledge of many things, such as philosophy, history, and geography.


L is for likeable. My only social goal is not to make anyone hate me for any reason. I like being neutral, because I am untouchable. As a result, many individuals seem to like me.


M is for methodical. When I do work, I do it in a methodical way.


N is for naturalized. I am a naturalized American because I was born in Belgium.


O is for Oscar. My English Bulldog's name is Oscar. He likes to go for walks and play tug-of-war when I come home from school. O also stands for Objectivism, the philosophy that I follow and believe in. It praises yourself, and degrades collectivism.


P is for Privacy Like all people in this world, there are certain things that no other man must touch. I recognise that you have no claim on any part of my life, so,"HANDS OFF!!!"


Q is for quick. I am a very fast hockey player on the ice. We practice weekly and games are coming up.


R is for Rachmaninov. Rachmaninov is another of my favorite composers. He is famous for his piano concertos and Rhapsody. R is also for Rimsky-Korsakov. He is my second favorite composer. R is also for Russia. I deeply love the Russian Culture.


S is for Shostakovitch. He is my favorite composer ever. He lived from the early 1900's-1970's, and wrote music in the Soviet Union for Stalin, and Nikita Krutchev.


T is for The Fountainhead. The Fountainhead is another one of my favorite books by Ayn Rand.


U is for urbanite. I live in the city, and I like to be in the city.


V is for Vocalise. Vocalise is my favorite piece of music to play on my bass.

W is for We the Living. We the Living is another novel by Ayn Rand, where a girl named Kira is trapped in the Soviet Union, and wants to be an engineer and her struggle for her ideals.


X is for X-mas. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year because I get many nice things.


Y is for youthful. I am young, and I have yet to leave my individual mark eternally on the world.


Z is for zealous. I am very excited and enthusiastic about things.

My first Thoughts of High School

I enjoy high school much better than middle school because there is much more freedom and advanced levels of biology and geometry. The after school activities like the dances can help bring new friends. I would like to start my paper by talking about the freedom and the creativity in global education.



Global education allows us the freedom of discussion ant thought without the dictating thoughts of textbooks. Current events allows us to connect with the world's past and shows us what is really out there, and why it affects us. Being an active participator, I find current events and discussions of culture quite interesting. One of our latest discussion was about political correctness. The great thing besides discussing culture and current events, is high school freedom itself.



In high school I get more freedom. It seems as if I changed suddenly from a child, to an adult. As an," Adult", my most favorite freedom is being able to walk around at lunchtime. It creates a bigger space that allows room for many students who eat lunch there, It creates privacy. The also allow one extra minute of passing time, this seems fitting for the size of the building. The thing is tough, the size and the many classes makes it harder to see people that I know so I go to the many activities and dances after school.



The most recent activity that I went to was going to the freshman dance. I saw most of the people I knew from eighth grade there, and some were glad to see me, and many wished that I was not there at all. I cannot figure out why yet. I had a good time though, and I thought that occasionally those kinds of things were worth doing, for catching up with classmates.They did not have much there, a DJ outside and free water bottles. I wonder If they will become more elaborate.



The point is, that I like high school much better than I liked middle school.