Wednesday, May 7. 2014

Today's schedule is B-AG-A-D-C

B Block Geography 12 - Today, in order to understand the Coriolis force, we'll watch the Simpsons episode Bart vs Australia (you can watch it here).

After we find out that in the country Rand McNally water travels backwards, people wear hats on their feet, and hamburgers eat people...we will really make sense of the Coriolis force. No, toilets are not affected by the Coriolis force but both meso and macro scale weather patterns are. After we will look at winds and pressure circulations. We'll understand where the permanent areas of high and low pressure are on the planet and figure out what that means for a macro-scale pressure gradient wind pattern. We'll try to understand what the Coriolis force is and see how it affects wind. We'll also talk about the Horse Latitudes, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Doldrums. You will need to complete question 1 from page 176 and questions 9 & 15 from page 177 of your Geosystems textbook.

Don't forget that every day we are going to start by looking at the synoptic forecast along with weather maps.
Data Streme
Envrionment Canada: Weather Office Comox

A Block Social Studies 11 - Today we will continue our work on the Dictatorship for Dummies project that we started in the library yesterday. This is your first major project for term four and can be a very effective way of starting off the term well! You will have today and tomorrow to work on this assignment and please ask as many questions as you need to do well. I really don't want you to get caught up in the minutia of details. The important thing here is to see the big picture and understand how the dictators in the 30's came to power and then held on to power. Naomi Wolf wrote an article in the Guardian newspaper back in 2007 that outlined some steps:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens' groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law

Wolf argued that these steps existed in the United States and that is certainly a debatable proposition however the steps she identified are a scripted pattern. Start with economic and social turmoil, throw in some perceived lawlessness and humiliation, then add a national threat and the conditions are ripe for a charasmatic personality to promise a golden path to either a renewed past of halcyon days or a bright future. So look for the common threads between the three dictators. Look at their methods of gaining power. Who did they seek for help? How did they convince people of their ideas? Once they got power how did they keep it? Remember the word totalitarian? Big Ideas folks.
Good luck!

C Block Law 9/10 - Today we have the library booked in order to continue work on our serial killer research activity which is due next Monday in class. When you have completed the research for this assignment then you can print off your work and start to assemble your poster.

When looking for the typology of Serial Killers (for your assignment) consider the following excerpt from the book Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes:

Serial Murder by Holmes, R. M., & DeBurger, J. E. (1988) identifies the following

1.Visionary Type—these murderers kill as a result of command hallucinations, delusions, or visions whose sources customarily include the forces of good or evil. These offenders are typically psychotic, leaving the crime scene in utter disarray. The homicides occur quickly with no extensive acts of torture. Frequently, the assailant relies on weapons of opportunity to commit his crimes and discards or locates the death instrument(s) in the victim’s body.

2. Mission-Oriented Type—the goal for these slayers is to kill certain types of people or to rid society of particular types of individuals. These serial murderers target victims based on their ethnicity, occupation (e.g., prostitutes), and/or age. Additionally, they determine whom to assail based on whether the person is deemed unworthy, undesirable, or somehow less than human. To illustrate, Jack the Ripper targeted prostitutes and viewed them as disposable. He dehumanized their bodies through mutilation in the process of killing them. In a letter written to the press by Jack the Ripper, he stated, “I am down on whores and shan’t quit ripping them.” Typically, the murders occur quickly and they are often planned. The mission-oriented offender does not engage in postmortem activities such as necrophilia or dismemberment and the weapon employed is not disposed of at the crime scene.

3. Hedonistic Type—these offenders murder as a result of sensation seeking or otherwise derive some sort of pleasure from their killings. Holmes and Holmes divided this type of assailant into two subcategories: the lust killer and the thrill killer. Both are summarily described below.

The lust killer murders principally for sexual gratification even if this does not entail traditional intercourse. However, sex or multiple sadistically erotic acts with a live victim are common. Sexually arousing behavior is the driving force for this offender, even after the person has killed the victim. Moreover, this attacker may also be sexually excited and/or satisfied from the murder itself. Ritualistic displays of sexual mutilation, facial disfigurement, cannibalism, body dismemberment, vampirism, and necrophilia are routinely featured in this type of homicidal act. The body is often concealed and the murder weapon taken. Close contact murder; specifically, beating or manual strangulation, are noted as most common.

The thrill killer murders for the visceral excitement the assailant experiences. However, once the victim is dead, the offender loses complete interest. As a result, the process of killing is prolonged as long as possible through extended acts of torture. The use of restraints and the presence of bite marks and burns on the victim’s body are characteristic behaviors for this type of slayer. Sadistic acts whose frequency is prolonged as long as possible prior to death, a concealed corpse, manual or ligature strangulation, and an animated victim during multiple sexual acts all characterize the patterns and motives of this type of assailant. manual or ligature strangulation, and an animated victim during multiple sexual acts all characterize the patterns and motives of this type of assailant.

4. Power/Control Oriented Type – these offenders harbor deep-seated feelings of inadequacy or attempt to compensate for a perceived lack of social or personal mastery over themselves by thoroughly dominating their victims. Holmes and DeBurger maintained that the primary motive for these offenders is not sexual in nature. Instead, these assailants desire complete and unfettered control over and subjugation of their powerless victims, including during the postmortem period. Consequently, torture, the use of restraints, strangulation, severed body parts, and decapitation are all routinely featured in these homicidal acts. A profound sense omnipotence – having the ultimate power of life or death over one’s victims as they cower and plead for their lives – fuels this type of serial killer. The act of murder is extended in order to increase the felt sense of gratification. The offender’s modus operandi is planned and organized, the body is concealed, and the weapon is absent.