The Bird on Fire welcomes and promotes feature writing, news stories, graphics, satire, and, especially in Makena’s case, creative writing.

Note 1  4/20/17

by Blogger Poet Makena Behnke

All my life i’ve been a normal, average, girl who sat next to you. i’m sick of being normal, because normal means being forgotten. Do you remember the girl in middle school with the dark hair who followed the popular one around? No. Why? Because she’s a People. A People is someone who doesn’t listen to themselves, someone who is forcing themselves through one door and trying to fit in the stupid, boring mold. There are too many People in the world; we each need to be a Person. To be a Person we need to be fearless. For example, i don’t know half the stuff i’m writing right now, but i was talking with a Person, and she explained that you just need to be you to be a Person. Right now, i am me which means i am a Person. Mind you it is 1:48 am, and I could read this tomorrow and say what the heck was i thinking, but i could wake up and have written an eye-opening piece. Unpredictability is the miracle of life without the placenta. No one can tell what will happen tomorrow. Who would have thought that today I would be crying over a two-sentence chat that told me I’m me for a reason. I think we all need someone to help guide us through life and hold our hand.

–2:13 am

Warning: The following may contain irony.

Introductory Post by Blogger Peter Kadel

Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! People of all ages! It is my privilege to introduce the return of everyone’s favorite blog squad…. The Bird on Fire! We took a brief hiatus because our secret lair was discovered by the Canadian Gopher army. But once we showed those rodents that the pen is mightier than little rodent claws and took back our secret sanctum, writers came in droves to join the crack team. Here is a quick overview of our freshly assembled staff.

Brennen Nick–When he sauntered in wearing a tin foil hat and screaming about the lizard people, we knew that this man was of sound mind and dedicated to telling the truth. You can expect reliable sources and sound logic from this writer.

Claire Jenkins and Shelby Armor–The dynamic duo! Blonde and blonder. Back after spending summer undercover in the criminal underground of Palm Valley. They have returned with evidence that a cold-blooded killer stalks the halls of our school. Be sure to stay tuned for their startling account.

Charles Schnell–Yeah, I think he has like some poems or stories or whatever.

Renee Vazquez–After we regained our lair, a flock of storks arrived and dropped Renee on our doorstep. When we asked her if she liked writing, she responded with an enthusiastic shout of “Yeah, sure.”

Harlow Berny–Perhaps the most mysterious member of our staff–he arrived dressed in a black cloak in the dead of night. He would only give us his name, and when we asked him what he wanted to write, he said, “ Stories of old made new.”

Makena Behnke–Another gift from our feathery overlords, dropped at our door shortly after Renee. When she landed, the lead stork said, “The prophecy is complete” and burst into flames as it flew off into the sunset.

Peter Kadel–The Harbinger of Joy, the Dragon of West Virginia, the man voted most likely to cheat death. After a stint as a guerilla journalist for Word from the Bird he has joined up with the Bird on Fire once we appeased him with offerings of plastic toy dinosaurs.

The Overlord–The mastermind of it all, the one who defeated the Gopher King, better known to you as mild mannered Ms. Zachik. We know her as the vicious pit boss who cracks the whip and lights fires under writers who work too slowly.

And so, there you have it folks, back with a new team following the same dream! Stay tuned as we bombard you with WORDS.

If you’ve been living under your bed for the past three weeks, perhaps you DIDN’T hear that PVS freshman Jake Mule, English Speaking Union Shakespeare Monologue Riverside region winner, took his Launce monologue and his sonnet to New York’s Lincoln Center. HE WAS ONE OF THE NATION’S 10 FINALISTS!–and the only freshman in a field of 55 national contenders. The ESU has released video of the finalists. Here is Jake’s final performance: his cold reading from Romeo and Juliet, his prepared monologue from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Sonnet 55.

On Saturday, May 14, the local English Speaking Union welcomed Jake and his parents, Mr. David and Mrs. Manny Mule, to their May luncheon at Seven Lakes Country Club. Jake described the experience of performing at Lincoln Center, his ventures into New York and NYU; then he performed his monologue and sonnet. Pictured below: Mr. David Mule, Jake, Bill Gaye (ESU Boardmember and former Shakespeare Monologue Competition Chair), and Mrs. Manny Mule. Mr. and Mrs. Mule also spoke. They described the experience from the parent vantage, sitting in the audience, watching the impressive talent gathered from around the nation.

–by Gaven “Jonathan Swift” Li, world-class blogger and student of rhetoric in Ms. Clark’s AP English Language and Composition class. Be forewarned: this article contains heavy doses of Satire.

On December 2nd, 2015, a married couple walked into a banquet room in San Bernardino with guns and turned a holiday party into a massacre. Fourteen innocent people were killed in this terrorist attack. We have seen mass shootings like this happen again and again in America: Newtown, Connecticut; Roseburg, Oregon; and, now, San Bernardino, California. This must-solve problem has always been my concern. After years of watching the fascinating Democratic and Republican debates about gun control as well as doing research, I have come up with a perfect plan to deal with this controversial situation and to save the future of the United States of America.
Here’s my suggestion: In order to keep all safe, everyone in the United States must have at least one gun and there should be no gun restriction at all. Age limitation and license requirements should also be eliminated. No matter who you are, a two-year-old baby, or a ninety-year-old lady, you must own a gun. According to one of my friends, who is a huge gangster movie fan and dropped out of school in fourth grade, this is a dangerous world, or a dangerous country–you might get shot anytime, anywhere; therefore, we must have guns to prevent us from getting killed. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This Second Amendment of the Constitution is my friend’s favorite quote. When the great Founding Fathers of America wrote the Constitution back in 1789, they must have predicted that weapons would be so powerful and destructive after two hundred and seven years. I’m sure they took into consideration automatic weapons. We live in a much more hostile society now. Although we don’t have any wild animals trying to attack us or any war with Indian tribes, we still need to be aware of, for example, crazy dogs running around on the street biting people or some scary cops carrying weapons on their belts. We need to be armed.
Furthermore, since it is so important to be armed, gun-shooting classes should be added to the United States education system. Children are the future of the country, and they need to learn everything about guns. Pistol assembling should be required for lower school kids to graduate, while 100-yard shooting is significantly necessary for high-school students to get into colleges. We have faith in our teenagers that they are all good citizens and won’t do anything to harm their neighbors or shoot anyone they don’t like.
Now, it’s time to return to my subject. I believe that my proposal will definitely bring a lot of benefits to this country.
Firstly, it would make America an extremely powerful country. Foreigners soon will realize that they can not mess with Americans any more, and foreigners will be scared to death to even step on this land. We no longer need to worry about too many immigrants coming here, which solves the other problem we are facing–immigration.
Secondly, guns protect the safety of Americans. Imagine walking on the street at night and there’s a creepy guy walking behind you; you can just pull out your gun and send him to Jesus. If you are not fast enough to kill him before he shoots you, it’s okay, at least you can die like a hero.
Thirdly, being armed makes everything much easier. There’s no need for police since everyone has weapons to solve his or her problems. Having a religious argument? Pull out your gun! Getting bullied at school? Pull out your gun! Somebody being racist? Pull out your gun! That’s also why gun-handling instruction in education is so important.
Fourthly, arming Americans will create more job opportunities. More bodyguards will be needed when rich CEOs or controversial politicians, Donald Trump for example, show up in public. They’ll need bodyguards to build a solid wall so they won’t get shot easily.
Fifthly, the crime rate is going to decrease after applying this new law. Criminals know that a small pistol can not scare anyone anymore, and they will just give up because it may be too hard for them to get more powerful weapons. American citizenship is so great that I believe they will not do anything with guns just for their own desire. Arm the good people of America with guns.
Sixthly, the sale of guns is good for the American economy. More factories will be built in order to make more guns, and more gun shops will be opened, too. Within a few years, the United States will be selling more guns than Russia!
This is my modest proposal about guns, and hopefully it works. If it doesn’t, well, I can still escape back to my motherland China before it’s too late.

 The AP Literature class of Palm Valley has recently finished reading a classic Shakespearean play–Othello. As the instructor of the class, Mr. Griffin shares with us this incisive essay written by our outstanding senior, Amber Zheng, in which she talks about the play’s main villain–Iago–as being a genius of manipulation.

–Edited by Ashley Zhou

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the villain who plots the entire evil plan that ultimately causes the death of Emilia, Othello, Desdemona and Roderigo. Iago is a person who only cares about himself, is extremely confident about himself, and is good at using other people’s weaknesses.

Iago is a perfect example of a self-centered person. He does everything in order to gain himself advantages. This characteristic is shown in the beginning of the play when he says to Roderigo, “In following him [Othello], I follow but myself” (1.1.64). Iago follows Othello because he wants higher positions and more power, rather than to be a loyal officer of Othello. When he admits, “I am not what I am” (1.1.70), not only does he mean that he is not this seemingly good honest person that Othello believes him to be, but also that he is not the person who seems to care about others; he implies that what he truly cares about is only himself.

Iago’s self-centered trait is revealed more frequently as the play goes on. After Roderigo says that he wants to drown himself because Desdemona and Othello are married, Iago says, “I never found man that knew how to love himself” (1.3.355-356). From this sentence, we can see that Iago thinks every man around him doesn’t know how to treat himself properly, because they all care for others. In Iago’s view, Othello loves Desdemona to the point that he is willing to “renounce his baptism” (2.3.363) for her; Roderigo is ready to kill himself because of his ”loss” of Desdemona; and Cassio lets Desdemona’s beauty appear in his mind every day. From Iago’s perspective, all these behaviors are absurd, as men should only care about themselves, as he does.

That’s also why Iago says to Roderigo, “Ere . . . I would drown myself for the love of a guinea hen (he means Desdemona!), I would change my humanity with a baboon” (1.3.356-358). While Iago says this to manipulate Roderigo into following his bidding, his words actually express his true feelings: men who are willing to sacrifice themselves for others are stupid, and these people are indeed no better than baboons, certainly not supposedly smart human beings. As Iago tries to persuade Roderigo to abandon the suicide idea, he also tries to get himself as many benefits as possible by telling Roderigo to sell lands and get cash. When he succeeds, he reveals his motivation: “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse” (1.3.383). Again, Iago never does anything without the intention of getting himself advantages.

Being a self-centered person, Iago is also confident and good at using others’ weaknesses. Iago knows the difference between appearance and reality very well and establishes a plan based on his knowledge. He is confident about the success of his plan because “The Moor is of a free and open nature/ That thinks men honest that but seem to be so” (1.3.443-444). And, Desdemona is just as gullible, “framed as fruitful/ As the free elements” (2.3.361-362). Because he knows all the other characters so well, he is able to conduct his evil plan by exploiting their weaknesses. Also, because his perceptions are in fact correct, his confidence never disappoints him: everything always goes as he plans. When he says that he is a Satan – “When devils will the blackest sins put on,/ They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,/ As I do now” (2.3.371-373) – he shows his talent – indeed, his genius – for manipulating others.

The explosion of Czar Bomba as viewed from 100 miles away–Novaya Zemlya; October 30, 1961

–Henry Huang

Two weeks ago, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon, alarming the world. Nuclear weapons are some of the most destructive weapons that man has ever built. During the dark times of the Cold War, there were many crazy ideas about nuclear weapons. Here are a few of them.

1) The Czar Bomba was the biggest nuclear weapon designed and produced in history.

2) The Davy Crockett was the smallest nuclear weapon ever produced but was intended as “conventional weaponry” to be used in the battlefield against the USSR.

And, 3) in the 1950’s, NASA had planned on using nuclear explosions to propel rockets through space.

The Czar Bomba
This weapon is the most powerful explosive device ever built by human beings. Designed by the Soviets in 1960, this device had a yield of 50 megaton TNT–3,800 times more powerful than theHiroshima bomb. However, it was not designed in 50 megaton TNT; it was designed actually to be 100 megaton TNT. For a Hydrogen bomb like that, there is no place in the world that the weapon could be tested safely. That was the reason that the final explosion was only 50 megaton. It was not designed to put into real use. The Soviets were threatening Americans by the explosion of the Czar Bomba. It was designed to be a threat. When it was exploded and tested, the fireball could be seen more than 1,000 kilometers away–that’s more than 600 miles or three times the distance to Los Angeles from Rancho Mirage. The hot wind would givehuman beings 170 kilometers away 3rd degree burns. The explosion ranked second among all the explosions in the world.

 (Note: the largest explosion made dinosaurs extent.)

The Davy Crockett

This nuclear weapon was designed by Americans in the late 1950’s. The United States deployed this small “battlefield” nuclear weapon in West Germany in case of possible Soviet invasion. 
 The weapon is not a relatively powerful nuke, only yielding 10 tons TNT payload. A Davy Crockett can only cause damage in a 2.5 mile range. However, that is the reason this weapon is crazy. Because this nuke is so small, it must be fired at close range with a handheld cannon. The radiation caused by firing this weapon at close range might harm the very soldiers who fired the weapon. What’s more, the weapon was designed to use in a conventional battlefield. The idea of using a nuclear weapon conventionally is crazy! How could this be common practice on the battlefield?
The United States Army, however, produced more than 2,100 pieces of the Davy Crockett nuclear device. From 1956 to 1971 Americans were producing them. The Davy Crockett retired from the Army in 1971.

Nuclear Explosions & NASA: Operation Orion
NASA, in the 1950s, worked on a project meant to send astronauts to Mars. This plan to send rockets to Mars sounds like it has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. However, it was one of the craziest ideas regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
 Crazy was using nuclear weapons in the 60’s to remove rocks and mountains for road access and construction. However, this idea is the craziest. Americans were trying to use nuclear weapons as fuel for rockets! NASA was trying to use the enormous force that nuclear weapon explosions could produce to propel rockets. 
 The plan was so outrageous and so dangerous. They couldn’t steer a nuclear-explosion-powered rocket. The power itself is uncontrollable. The plan was to explode nuclear weapons–one by one–to push the rockets to Mars. In fact, NASA cancelled the plan in a short time.

Nuclear weaponry is a representation of human creativity. These designs are representative of the crazy things that happened in a crazy era–the Cold War. If history could repeat itself again, I believe that human beings would not create monsters like these!

*To see a simulation of the destruction of these various nuclear weapons, go to NUKEMAP @ nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap.