Term 2 Post 3

The First Sino-Japanese War occurred from 1 August 1894 to 17 April 1895. It was a battle between the Qing Dynasty of China and Meiji Japan, primarily over the control of Korea. After more than six months of continuous successes by Japanese army and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing leadership sued for peace in February 1895.
Direct results of the war showed that the military strength and sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty had been severely weakened during the nineteenth century. It demonstrated that forced reform had modernized Japan significantly since the Meiji Restoration in 1867, especially as compared with the Self-Strengthening Movement in China. Regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan. The Qing Dynasty, along with the classical tradition in China, were the ones who suffered a major blow.

In order to protect its own interests and security, Japan wanted to either add Korea to its own force before it was seized by another power or at least ensure Korea's effective independence by developing its resources and reforming its administration. As Prussian advisor, Major Klemens Meckel put it, Korea was "a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan". Japan felt that another power having a military presence on the Korean peninsula would have been a threat to Japanese national security and so they resolved to end the centuries-old Chinese control over Korea. Moreover, Japan realized that having access to Korea’s coal and iron ore deposits would benefit Japan's growing industrial base.

The Second Sino-Japanese War occurred from July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945. It was a conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the 20th century.

The war ended with the surrender of Japan. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called "incidents". Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, there was a Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which took place in 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.

Students should be given more freedom in deciding school rules

Excessive freedom leads to disasters. Whenever there is too much freedom given, people tend to abuse it. If the laws of the country are chosen by its people, where stealing and robbing isn't a crime, the country is bound to have disasters. Therefore, to a certain extent, students should not be given more freedom in deciding school rules.

It may be a good idea, however, to allow students to propose suggestions to the school rules. This is because the teachers may fail to look at certain things at the perspective of students. Suggestions should always be open in order for a school to improve continuously. However, we must not neglect the fact that the teachers still have the final say on whether or not the school rules should be changed or added.

If students are given more freedom in deciding the school rules, then it will defeat the purpose of having school rules. Rules are meant to be followed, not to be decided. If it is changed frequently, it will be difficult to abide to the rules.

I feel that students should not be given too much freedom and power as they are not matured enough. Some of them will fail to see the importance of certain things and insist in doing it their own way. The school rules the school set acts as a guideline for them to follow so as not to fall astray. If the students are the ones deciding the school rules, there will be no guidelines and they will easily side track in studies.

Since too much freedom leads to many undesired things happening, I feel that students should not be given more freedom in deciding the school rules.

Nuclear Energy

Yes. Nuclear energy still has a part to do in our world.

By using nuclear energy, we can reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, which we use daily in our normal lives. It in turns slows down global warming, because the usage of fossil fuels are one of the main factors. This is because nuclear reactions do not consume oxygen or produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.

It can also dependably produce power for many areas, which other technologies cannot. Radioactive by- products from nuclear reactors are useful to medicine and industry. Nuclear reactions result in the decay of heavy, unstable elements into lighter, more stable elements. Some of the byproducts of radioactive decay are themselves useful. For example, plutonium decays into americium, a metal used in small amounts in smoke detectors. Radioactive molybdenum decays into technetium, used in medical diagnosis. Radioactive byproducts also see use in industrial processes and scientific research.

Therefore, nuclear energy still has an important role to play in our world.

Term 2 Post 2

After seeing the picture, I feel deeply traumatised. It showed how war brings pain and agony.

The man in the picture was bleeding all over and his comrades were desperately attempting to rescue him. He appears to be in great pain. It pains me to see his face. Streaked with blood,

his eyes were tightly shut, as if all the pain would be gone if he didn't look at the battleground. His comrades looked desperate. In the battleground where everybody fought as one, comrades no longer considered merely a friend, they were as close as a family member. The battlefield was a place in which everyone places their trust on their comrades. It was their responsibility and burden to ensure the survivability of their comrades. If they survived through ordeal of war, why didn't their friend. They could all feel the guilt in their heart. They're comrade was about to die.

And they all knew it.

The place was also in a terrible shape. Debris were everywhere. It was most probably the battleground. Judging from the state it was in, I can conclude that the battle was epic. Crumbles covered the entire place and it was no longer recognisable. The devastation was so great that it caused buildings to collapse. It could only show the dim future ahead for all those who lived around that area.

War is a very terrible thing. It is usually stirred due to somebody's personal greed. However, it only brings pain and misery to others. After looking at this picture, I can already see the aftermaths a war can bring. It destroys families and homes, and thus I came to realise that it is really important to do what we can to prevent unnecessary wars from occurring.