December 2014 Newsletter

CLEMENTS ENGLISH HONOR SOCIETY

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“And Life Prevails”Photos by Anna Wang

Broken

They love to hide behind their masksAnd whisper me away.They should know I cling to the past—That my blood doesn’t flame.It burns to ruby.

I pour myself a few fingers.Maybe it’ll keep the fingers pointed From causing any damage that lingers,But they smear more than oil in their anointments.I’d need a Kingmaker to save my name.

I think I crossed the lineBut it was drawn in the sand On a windy night. Uncertainty and I go hand and hand. Am I bitter or am I better?

I can't see the fire through the smoke. I may not be a good man But I'm from honest folk. Fall leaves the trees bare and tan.I leave nothing to imagination. My dream’s taste leads me to beams.Hanging with rope, I tie it and I'm tired.Hanging with life, I snip it and I'm fixed.The bells began to toll.Heavens began to drop.I hope their graves don’t roll.

Royal Botanic Gardens, London& Windsor Castle

Photos by Linh-Thuy Le

On December 9th, 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a 524-page summary of its findings on the CIA’s usage of torture against terrorism suspects. The report’s blockbuster claim is that the CIA misattributed acquisition of crucial information leading to the assassination of Osama bin Laden to its enhanced interrogation methods, when, in actuality, they should not be credited with such. What the public has until now not know, however, is that the most important information leading up to bin Laden’s death were not Guantanamo waterboarding sessions, but rather, an extensive series of email exchanges between bin Laden and 23-year old New Yorker John Tripper. Dear Mr. Laden,I heard that you managed an extensive network of outreach and consulting teams on the ground in the Middle East. My name is John Tripper, and I am an eager graduate of Harvard University seeking to improve the world through my synergistic approach to goal-oriented solutions. If you could reply as soon as possible and add me on LinkedIn, I’d very much like to go out to lunch or Snapchat with you sometime to discuss career opportunities.Thanks a bunch,John Tripper Dear Mr. Tripper,Hello American. I’m so glad we’re getting to know each other! Yes, I am doing a lot of that in needy communities, and I’m glad you find my initiatives so highly impactful. Our secret lies in our lifestyles: getting 8 hours of sleep per night (and I don’t mean knocking yourself out with Nyquil-that stuff inspires terror for real) and work-life balance are very important to us. But yeah, feel free to talk with me anytime! I’m a bit busy ATM with all of my staff and partners working overtime (we have to provide health insurance to employees now, apparently), but I’ll try to keep in touch with you. I’m very interested in recruiting you to our team!Hugs and kisses XOXO,ObL Dear ObL,Thanks for the tips! I just added you on LinkedIn (your company’s name is Global Sharia, Inc. right?) and Snapchat. Are you on Instagram, Tumblr, Foursquare, Yelp, Uber, Trivia Crack, or Tindr, too? I’m just trying to leverage my network as much as possible, which I think is advantageous to both of us.I went on the Global Sharia website your LinkedIn is linked to, but all I saw were goofy pictures of Hillary Clinton with googly eyes photoshopped on pasted all over the home page.I’ve also attached my resume below; I hope you’ll be able to recognize my immense talents in your field. Right now, I am working on a multi-frame screenplay that achingly documents the psychological breakdown of a fish who learns to walk on land.High five and fist bump,JT

Dear Justin Timberlake (or John Tripper, I don’t know which, I only know your initials are JT),What a bright young mind! You remind me of one bro I met at a Tri-Delt party at King Abdulaziz University, or as I called it, King Ziz Uni. His name fails me now, but he was one of my most dedicated employees. I’m glad you’re so gratingly optimistic—it certainly comes in handy.In particular, I’m interested in your creative work with fish. Tell me, how do you feel about sleeping with them? Haha, I crack myself up all the time, Hahahaha. (But no seriously, is it going to be an issue for you?)In order for you to start our hiring process, you will need to get at least 5 fake driver’s licenses, 10 different totally plausible wigs, and several different personalities, none of which may be Muslim, for when you are questioned. It’s for a roleplay. The interview component will consist of several rounds of waterboarding, rectal feeding, Milgram-esque electric shocks, and, my personal favorite, threats of harm to your family. But don’t stress out about the interview at all; it's an opportunity for me to get to know you a little bit and answer any questions you may have!My contact email is at obamabinladen@globalsharia.org (and no, the “b” is not meant to be an “s”—this spelling subverts the system and keeps me on the DL). If you want to send something through snail mail, just deliver it to the Pakistan Military Academy—my associate there will get it to my crib here in Abbottabad.We would really love for you to join our team of highly dedicated, hopeless ideologues. Our turnover rate is exceptionally high, but we love anyone that shows long-term commitment and a hatred of drones. Our staff gets first dibs at conflict diamonds from the DRC, enjoys innumerable perks, gains physical strength (we’re known for being Mu-slim), and receives paid maternal/paternal care for 9 months.Best wishes to you and your country (the latter ironically),ObL

Dear ObL,Awesome news! I will start the process right away. I’m incredibly excited to make a lasting positive impact on the world, and I look forward to getting to know you better throughout my work. I’m surprised that your organization is so transparent about all this information. My own government could learn a lesson or two from you about democracy.Thanks for everything and then some,Trippin’ You Up

The National Security Agency quickly picked up on this email exchange because a junior engineer was looking for the latest gossip on Justin Timberlake. John Tripper was immediately arrested for attempting to join al-Qaeda but was soon released due to his total ignorance and his connections to Harvard alumni.

By Steven Jiang

Photos by Sindhuja Karanam

Pop ArtBy Steven Jiang Flashes of light and color and life-affirmingPleasure light up the screen and usWe drift to pixelated love and war andPeace and everything that gives lifeMeaning life is great and always will beFor we now live truly and fully throughOur portal into what could would should be transfixed on the fiction dartingThrough the fabric of reality the digitalLove machine creates our memories andFulfills our wishes and overwrites our thoughtsLurid vertigo drawing us closer and closerWe spin into the narrative oozed by our Content providers we never stop infiniteCentrifuge into the future forever disorientedBut with the permanent thrill adrenalineOf at last feeling aliveHappyHuman 

“Release the Quackin”Photos by Stacy Tao

Ensnared Faceless Bacteriophage

Art by Tejas Kumar

Photos by Anna Wang

Jugend VierzehnBy Angeline Rao A bit of background: Writing Jugend __(insert year here)__ poems is a tradition in Germany that gives the youth of different time periods a chanece to express themselves and what they think about their lives. They can choose to write anything, from a pithy statement to an essay. Disclaimer: My German is far from perfect. And yes, I know that the English translation sounds pretty derpy. Wir sind verwirrt.Heute sind die Medien überall;Die beeinflussen uns immer.Trotz dieser Tatsache,Und trotz dem Gruppendruck,Sollen wir herausgefunden, was wir meinen. Wir sind sorglos.Wir sind alt genug, zu die Realitäten der Welt verstehen,Und jung genug, zu kein Druck haben, zu diese Realitäten verkraften.Jetzt kann wir an der Grenze zwischen Dinge, die wir tun wollen, und Dinge, die wir tun sollen, tanzen,Ohne zu wissen, wo wir landen werden, springen,Groe Träume träumen,Fehler machen,Stolpern,Und fallen.

Wir sind aufgeregt.Die Welt entwickelt sich sehr schnell;Neue Technologien entstehen immer.Es gibt so viel für uns zu erkunden,So viel für uns zu erleben,Und so viel für uns zu machen.Vielleicht kann wir Hunger in der Welt nicht enden,Oder kein Auto, das fliegen kann, erfinden,

Aber wir kann zusammen erklären,Dass wir sind bereit, die Zukunft zu erschüttern. Translation:The Youth of 2014 We are confused.Today the media is everywhere,Always influencing us.Despite this,And despite peer pressure,We must figure out what we believe. We are carefree.We’re old enough to understand reality,And young enough to not have to deal.We can dance on the border between things we want and things we should,Jump without knowing where we’ll land,Dream big,Make mistakes,Trip,and fall. We are excited.The world is evolving so quickly,New technologies are always emerging,There is so much to explore,So much to experience,And so much to do.Maybe we cannot end world hunger,Or invent a flying car,But we can declare together,That we are ready to shock the world.

Photos byVictor Fu

Photos by Rachel Hsu

Photos by Tejas Kumar

George Ranch

It cannot be the land of the free and the home of the braveBecause a home is where you feel accepted and secure.And this country can’t be their home when the system works 24/7 against them;When they can’t go to school because of hostility and ridicule from teachers and students;When they can’t get a job because of the prejudice in workplaces;When they can’t leave their homes without the constant reminder that they are not good enough.That they can be arrested without justification from police.That they can be victimized without a second thought from society.That they can be tossed away like a commodity.

Why them?Has history embedded this mindset so deep into our psyche,That altering it seems like self-betrayal?Has society reinforced this behavior so vehemently,That straying from the norm seems like treason? We as a country seem to have no problem helping nations oceans away,As long as they agree to align their interests with our own,And they adopt every aspect of our way of life.But then why is it so hard to help those living among us?Why is it so hard to challenge the oppression seething through the cracks of our society? Learn to embrace others.Accept their differences.Celebrate our diversity.Until we all learn to diverge from this path of self-destruction,America can never be the land of the free, or the home of the brave,Not for them.

Not For ThemBy Victor Fu

As children,We all naively lived day to day.Living carefree was not a flaw;Rather, it was an expectation.After all, we were young. We were innocent. But why do we get to savor every fleeting moment of our childhood,Of our innocence?Yet we systemically deprive them of their childhood and innocence.They live in the same country as we do.Why shouldn’t they enjoy the same privileges that we do?Why shouldn’t they have the same opportunities that we do? It’s time to face the crude truth.America is no longer the land of opportunity,Not for them. ~

America is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave,Not for them. It cannot be the land of the free and the home of the braveBecause to be free is to possess the power to drive your own destinyWithout constant fear of judgment and discrimination.

Photos by Romic Aevaz

Photos by Connie Hwang

The Great MachineBy Victor Fu 

The mechanization of our society never stops.Every chime of the bell tower, every tick of the clockMarks another step into the great machine. Everything we see is digitalized.Everything we touch withers. There is no time and no room for nature.Why should we stop to smell the roses,When the path of technology never ceases to change and adapt?Why should we take the road less travelled,When the road more travelled is actually paved and concrete?Why should we do anything else,When everything we could ever need is forever globalized on the Web? The clicking, ticking, whirring of the cogs in our brainsBring us to a new future, today, everyday.Let’s just rip out the roots of society.We can replicate it with a computer. Sacrifice the naturalness of our community,Abandon our Mother,Find new beauty in the modern age.Is that not our desired fate?Or is it yet another illusion within the great machine?

Of being born Sick He leaned against a wallAnd all the graces of societyCouldn't hide my fall. This was insanity.  He looked away to hide his smile.  My attempts to get up Were less than fruitful, And the solace of the cupCould barely hold the pull.  He looked away to hide his gaze.   We weren't born right. That much was obviousFrom their looks of frightAnd blatant unhappiness.  He looked away to hide his mistake.  

The whispers wouldn't subside. 

Promised it wouldn't happen again. 

—was no one on my side?It wasn't enough for those

men.  

He looked away to hide his shame. 

 "Please—just leave me

alone."How did they get in?

I couldn't reach the phone."Lord, we have sinned to

remove sin." 

He looked away to hide his fear.

 I could feel its sharp cry.

The red response was heard.I set my eyes high.

I'd seen him again, I'm assured. 

 He couldn't look away. 

NHS Winter CarnivalPhotos by Yvonne Huang

Photos by Angeline Rao