The US presidential election is different from other elections because they do it in a special way. To prevent California from winning the election every time due to its dense population. So when the first election was running president George Washington decided to make each state have a certain amount of electoral votes. An election is usually held every four years. If there is an argument there may be another election soon. The maximum time that a president can be is 2 terms (8 years.) Donald Trump has currently been president for 4 years but if he wins this election he will go in for another term.

So far the election is looking good for Biden as he is ahead in electoral points and he is on the way to get some other states. To win a US election you need 270 points. Not all countries do this but some countries do it similar such as Britain and Ireland. America’s election is the most popular in the world as it is documented by lots of news stations such as CNN, Fox News, BBC and Me!  Before Donald Trump was president he was already very rich. He owned lots of hotels and golf courses. Joe Biden grew up in Pennsylvania and lived on a farm for most of his childhood. Biden had a lot of experience with politics as he has a bachelor’s degree in the University Of Delaware and he also has a law degree in Syracuse University.

How it started?

In 1955, Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of Guinness, went bird shooting with his friends. He got into an argument about which was the fastest bird. He looked for a book to prove his friends wrong but he couldn’t find one. Then he thought about creating his own. Not long after he met Norris and Ross McWhirter who had been running a fact-finding agency in London and the three of them decided to publish a book called the Guinness Book of World Records.The first edition was 198 pages. On 27 August 1955, this book went to the top of the British best seller list. The following year, the book was launched in the US, and sold 70,000 copies. 

Since then, Guinness World Records Book started to break some of its own records, with sales of more than 100 million copies in 100 different countries and 37 languages. The Guinness World Records Book is the world’s best selling copyrighted book ever. The Book became such a surprising hit that they decided to  publish a new one every year and they made a tv series called the Record Breakers hosted by Norris and Ross McWhirter. Ross McWhirter was actually assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975. 

By Jamie – 6th Form

Phase 1 (18 May) 

• allow outdoor meetings between people from different households 
• open childcare for healthcare workers 

• phased return of outdoor workers 
• open retailers which are primarily outdoor or those which were open during first level of restriction (e.g. opticians) 
• opening of certain outdoor public amenities 

Phase 2 (8 June) 

• allow visits to households 

• develop plans and supports to open up business with consideration for safety of staff and customers 
• open small retail outlets and marts where social distancing can be observed 
• open public libraries 

Phase 3 (29 June) 

• allow small social gatherings 

• opening of crèches, childminders and pre-schools for children of essential workers in phased manner 
• return to work for those with low levels of interaction 
• open non-essential retail outlets with street level entrance and exit 
• open playgrounds 

Phase 4 (20 July) 

• opening of crèches, childminders and pre-schools for children of all other workers on a gradually increasing basis 
• return to work for those who cannot work from home 
• gradual easing of restrictions for higher risk services (e.g. Hairdressers) 
• opening of museums, galleries, places of worship 

Phase 5 (10 August) 

• allow larger social gatherings 
• return to work across all sectors 
• on a phased basis, commencing at the beginning of the academic year 2020/2021, opening of primary and secondary schools and 3rd level institutions 
• further easing of restrictions on high risk retail services 

The phases the Government have proposed are a roadmap to get our lives back to normal. It is well structured and has been thought out smartly but in my opinion it’s not going to work.  Most of the population are social distancing, staying at home and keeping good hygiene. That is all very good to keep in mind and practise and will help to stop the spread of the virus, but it will not eradicate the Covid 19.  

In the United States, notwithstanding that they have the largest number of Covid 19 cases and deaths, which are continuing to rise every day, some States are beginning to ease restrictions. The number of cases is continuing to grow. In Italy, companies trading with China had to bring their workers home because of the coronavirus. They brought the virus back to Italy where it spread exponentially and now, they are still finding people dead in their houses. 

In China, the Chinese Government did not inform other countries about the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Wuhan early enough. If they had, we would probably not be in the position of fighting a global pandemic now. 

In my opinion the Irish Government are trying to convince the Irish public that they will have Covid 19 under control. They are proposing this roadmap so that the public can get back to normal life but we have a long way to go until this global pandemic is over. It could take a year, 2 years or 5 years until it is over. 

In summary the Government’s roadmap is well thought out but aspirational. It remains to be seen whether life can return to normal within the time period proposed in the roadmap.

The Secret Forest, by Enid Blyton

I recommend this book, if you have read all the Famous Five and the Secret Seven and are looking for another story that is about going up and down a mountain and trying to escape on time.

There is a boy called Prince Paul and he is the prince of Baronia. He brings some of his friends from his boarding school in England home to Baronia for the summer holidays. He tells them about a secret forest that is inside a circle of steep mountains where no one has ever gone. People have tried to reach the secret forest but it is impossible because of the steep drops. 

In a small town in Baronia the people are always getting robbed by people who live in the mountains beside the secret forest. No one knows where their base is.

One day, Prince Paul and his friends go climbing up the steep mountainside. They find this old temple in the ruins. Except for one statue, everything else is broken. The statue had a crack down its middle. When they were on their way home to the palace, it suddenly got very foggy. One of Prince Paul’s friends called Jack saw some berries and wanted to pick them. Afterwards he got lost. He found he was walking back to the old temple in the fog. He decided he would stay there until the fog went and he fell asleep.

When he woke up he heard a noise and saw the statue that was not cracked split open. Out came some robbers! He waited until they were out of sight and then he ran back to the palace. There he told his friends and they decided to go back and check it out at night. The boys went up when it was dark to the ruined temple and tried to open the statue. Prince Paul found a piece that you could push down in one ear. He pressed on it and the statue came in half. 

Inside the statue, there was a hole with a rope going down. They all decided they would go through. At the bottom there was a tunnel that went all the way to a stream where a raft was. They all climbed into the raft and the raft took them all the way to the secret forest.

In the secret forest there was a river that flowed through a city of robber houses. They decided they would stop for the night. Early in the morning, there was a really big storm. They climbed under a bush for shelter but that did not help. They walked up a platform beside the river to get back to the top. But a robber saw them on the way. The water was now getting higher because of the storm. When they got to the top the water was up to their knees and part of the roof fell in and more water came. They quickly climbed up just when the other robbers came. The robbers saw the water crashing and tried to run back down to the secret forest. Prince Paul and his friends heard the whole ceiling fall down.

The robbers will never be able to come out of the secret forest and rob the villagers again.

Prince Paul and his friends went back to school in England after a very adventurous holiday.

These are very hard times as you know. But, even though some people are taking it well others are breaking the law by seeing each other and not social distancing. A few days ago I was going on a walk and I saw three people all together not social distancing. At first I thought they might be family but I realized they were the same age and did not look the same. I would have interfered and told them to stop but did not want to interfere because most of the time adults would not listen to kids.  IIt would be the other way around but even if a random kid on the street asked you to stop you would just be confused and keep walking. So I never interfered.

Ingredients:

2 cups of plain flower(300g)

1 cup of self raising flour(150g)

Half a teaspoon of yeast(1g)

One and a half teaspoons of salt(10)

1 and a half cups of water (350ml of water)

Method

First get all your dry ingredients and put them in a mixing bowl and mix

Second add the water and mix for a couple of minutes with your spatula.

Cover your bowl with cling film and leave to rise in a warm (not hot) place for 24 hours.

When you are ready to cook your bread, preheat your oven to gas mark 8 (230 degrees Celsius / 450 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Using your spatula, drop the sticky dough on a heavily floured work surface. 

Shape the dough in a sort of ball and roll it in the flour so it gets covered all around.

Place your cooking dish in the oven to warm for 30 minutes.

 After 30 minutes, make sure the dough is nicely covered in flour all around and plop it in your chosen cooking dish (no grease needed, just put some flour in the bottom of your dish if you are worried the bread might stick).

 Cook for 30 minutes with the lid (or foil) on, and a further 15 minutes uncovered, and ta-da! You have delicious home-made bread…

Now good luck to resist the temptation to eat it as it is on your cooling rack…

This is weird because America is about to have a wave of people that are going to call it sexist because Kim Jong un is dead or in a vegetated state and there is only one heir, his sister which means NorthKorea is about to have a female dictator and the US still has no female president.

What are they?

Drums are a percussion instrument that are divided up in symbols, toms and other essential parts.Drums are an essential instrument for timing as well as the bass.Drums are usually 

My favourite drummers

Pete parada-offspring

Tre Cool(frank edward WrightIII)- Green Day   

Lars Ulrich-Metallica

Phil collins-Genesis

The parts

On the drum kits where there is everything, there are 4 toms, 4 symbols, 2 basses and a snare. Some drummers(neil peart) have a 360 kit which is almost impossible to play(almost)

Some also have extra toms, cowbells and launchpads( no it is also called a sound pad).

Last thing

Guitar and piano play with the time, drums and bass are the time and singers almost definitely mess up

Thanks for reading my blog article

toodles

Hi my name is Colman and I am going to tell you about the coronavirus or covid 19 It has just skyrocketed in the last month  or two and the economys have  just crashed.

The Coronavirus is a disease that affects your lungs and respiratory system  

The symptoms 

Fever 

Loss of appetite

Fatigue 

Loss of smell

Shortness of breath 

Cough

Muscle aches and pains 

The virus  survives on a surface for about seventh two hours so if a non infected person was wearing gloves and a mask and touched it.they would have to get rid of the gloves and mask and make sure no one touches them for 72 hours this will help slow the spread of the virus and everything will get back to normal soon if you follow the HSE guidelines. 

The details show that an uncovered cough can travel up to eight point two meters or twenty seven feet.So that is why the Hse wants to say that if you are covering your cough you are shortening that distance of the cough.The virus is usually spread through cough and sneeze droplets.This deadly virus is most contagious in the first 3 days after the onset of symptoms,although spread is possible before symptoms appear and it is also very easily caught in the final days.the best prevention measures are to keep the metres from everyone,washing your hands for 20 seconds and washing them frequently. The best way to prevent the virus is by sneezing and coughing into a tissue is better than anything else but if there’s no tissue available do it to the inside of your elbow.When you are going to the supermarket wear a face mask  and gloves and when you get back leave them somewhere no one will touch them and use hand sanitizer and wash hands for 20 seconds this the best way to slow down this virus.

On one of Donald’s Trump’s latest press conferences he said he would try  by injecting  disinfect into human body’s to try and find a cure for the covid 19.He has been highly criticized for this comment and he said he won’t hold  another daily conference. From this comment the companies that create disinfected said  this product is not for improper use which is so right from them.

In Ireland there is a shortage of ppe which means the coronavirus is beating us and that means the curve we have been flatting which will just go back to the old graph and we will be stuck to our houses for a while longer.Well on the plus side Pilots from Aer Lingus are flying Doctors in from China which will help the country so much because they have been at the pits of this virus. 

Stay safe and the follow the guidelines from the HSE

Hi my name is Jamie and I will be talking to you about what is the impact of COVID 19 for Irish people?

Global Pandemic

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus.The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. COVID 19 has become a global pandemic affecting almost every country in the world including Ireland. There have been around 6,000 cases and over 200 deaths in Ireland. There have been over 1,400,000 cases and over 80,000 deaths.

Impact on Daily Life 

The Government has imposed restrictions on people travelling such as the following.

• Stay at least 2 km within your house.
• Work from home.
• Schools closed, learning from home
• All restaurants, bars, cinemas and leisure centres except supermarkets and pharmacies have been closed.
• Old people have to cocoon because they are most at risk.

The government has recommended social distancing while exercising, shopping, etc. They also have advised people to cough/sneeze into your elbow or a tissue and constantly wash your hands.

Why has the Government Imposed these restrictions?

The government doesn’t want people to get sick with the virus. They are trying to control the number of people attending hospital. They only have a limited number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and ventilators. They are taking measures to flatten the curve (see diagram below).

It is important to adopt social distancing measures and listen to the advice from the HSE to help the health care workers who are on the frontline. The COVID 19 global pandemic is like a war with health care workers on the frontline battling an invisible enemy.

Economic Impact

As a result of the measures being taken by the Government to slow down the spread of the virus thousands of people have lost their jobs or have had to close down their businesses. The Government has introduced benefits for employees who are not being paid. It is estimated that the COVID 19 pandemic could cost the Irish economy 20-30 billion euro.

I hope you enjoyed my blog and stay well. Thank you.