Cupcakes

Cupcakes are delicious if you make them with the right recipe. One of the greatest internet cupcake/cake bakers is Elise Strachen, who created her own YouTube channel, mycupcakeaddiction. On this channel, you can find great recipes for all kinds of cakes and everything cake related. One of the greatest things about Mrs. Strachen, is that she uses baking powder rather than baking soda. Baking soda is difficult to find in groceries stores in Europe, you have to go to the pharmacy to find it (not joking). She has also created a lot of videos to show how to make beautiful piping frosting decoration, that are not very time consuming to make. I tried two of her easy recipes. The outcome was delicious which surprised me because every time I've made cupcakes in the past they have always had a weird outcome. Most of the time the texture of the cupcakes were not very appetising and they didn’t taste great, this time they turned out great. 

My cupcakes

Shaving with Occam's Razor

"Nature has a great simplicity and, therefore, a great beauty."

- Richard Feynman

Physics

Occam’s Razor is defined as the principle that in explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary. Essentially, it states that among competing hypotheses, the most elegant, simplest one should be selected. 

Occam’s razor, however, does not serve as an arbiter in modern science but rather as a guide. As Einstein put it, “It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience” or as he is often paraphrased, "Everything should be kept as simple as possible, but no simpler." 

The Bullet Cluster

Described as "The longest-standing, unsolved problem in astrophysics" by Neil deGrasse Tyson, dark matter continues to remain a mystery. Scientists observed that only 15% of the gravity of the universe can be accounted for by baryonic, "normal" matter and phenomena such as black holes. This means that 85% of the mass of the universe, hence the formation of all galaxies and complex structures, and the behaviour of the entire universe is attributed to missing matter. 

Furthermore, the speed of rotation of the edge of multiple galaxies is faster than expected, considering that the majority of their mass is concentrated near the galactic centre. This suggests that the movement of these galaxies is  being affected by the gravity of invisible matter surrounding it, aptly named dark matter.

Where would you rather be ill?

Why are the countries which achieve a high ranking in the World Health Organisation's (WHO) scale of performance in healthcare mainly found in Europe?

Healthcare services differ substantially around the globe and looking at the WHO reviews present quite a few surprises. For instance, Italy, ranked second best, has one of the most comprehensive and efficient healthcare systems on the planet. Russia, on the other hand, falls short of the performance results achieved in Pakistan, Albania and Bangladesh which have a far less developed economies.

II.

Little by little the darkness recedes,

Giving its way to the dawn’s early light,

Rising the song of the birds in the trees,

Making again the world coloured and bright.

Awoken are beasts from their night’s slumber,

Arisen are men to work through the day.

And anew bustles all the world under,

Touched and adorned by the sun’s golden rays.

See now the monk upon the high hills,

Singing the song which for ages was sung.

And on his aged words the world round him stills,

Heard is his prayer to life-giver sun.

by the Dionysian

"Brussels is a graveyard of living beings"

Belgium shut down all schools on the 23rd of November. The decision was made by our Prime Minister, Charles Michel. I was happy about it at first because it meant I didn't have to finish my math homework, but then, I realised it wasn't right at all.

The numerous measures taken over the past few days have made fear grow in our hearts. We often hear Charles Michel saying that the threat is "imminent". The threat of what, terrorism? The fact is that we have no idea of what is going on in this country. Belgian police authorities say it’s for our own safety that we don’t know anything yet, but is it really if we are too scared to leave our house?

The terrorists attacked Paris, aiming to destroy our culture and our way of life. They haven't attacked Brussels yet but we are doing the job for them anyway: we are destroying our lifestyle right now by shutting everything down.

The problem is that the government is doing this because they don’t know what else to do. Yesterday on the Belgian talk show "C'est pas tous les jours dimanche", the president and spokesman of the Free Union of the Public and Police Function, Vincent Gilles, admitted that they don’t know what the security level 4/4 means. This is because the government created the different levels of security without saying which necessary measures had to be taken, and where. 
I agree with the fact that we are “better safe than sorry”, but only to certain extent; we shouldn't just be safe, we should also feel safe and yet all these measures to the continuous “imminent threat” just make us feel scared.

by Sarah Mignot

Interview with Mr. Park

On Monday 19^th October, Professor Jinwhan Park from the Gyeongsang National University South Korea came to eeb2. Mr. Park is the president of “Philosophy with Children and Youth Network” in Asia and the Pacific (PCYNAP), he came to our school to explain this philosophical and ethical idea and I had the pleasure of interviewing him.

When you think of philosophy, you think of the academic one, the one we study, also known as the study of  nature and  its causes, of the principles of reality, of knowledge and our values, all based on logical reasoning. Mr Park's intention is not to teach academic philosophy to children. What he wants to do is teach them more about practical philosophy. By doing that, he teaches children how to be able to make an ethical and logical judgement in a particular situation. "It is crucial that younger students learn how to make a good judgement because some of them might be the future leaders of democratic societies so the sooner they are able to do it the better", he says. 

I.

There is no sin in killing,

So the poet Virgil sang,

The only crime in slaying,

Is to kill a guiltless man.

When battle shouts are ringing,

And death the warrior sows,

The victim’s life is fleeing,

But the sower’s glory grows.

The vengeful spirit’s storming,

When offenders meet the blade,

And then the storms are stilling,

For justice has been made.

There is no sin in killing,

So this poet Virgil sang,

The only crime in slaying,

Is to kill a guiltless man.

by the Dionysian

Humans but No Humanity

At least 120 people dead, 352 wounded, 99 of them severely. Six attacks shook Paris last night on Friday, 13^th November. 

17 people killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad, Irak, on Friday at a memorial service for a militia fighter killed in batttle against the ISIS.

Suicide bombings in southern Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday 12^th, kiling 43 people and at least 239 wounded victims. 

What do all of these attacks have in common? They were all sanctioned by ISIS.

Close-mindedness and intolerance are our biggest enemies these days. ISIS is chasing after innocent people for the belief that they are right and have for “mission” to kill anyone who does not follow their radical ideals, forcing thousands of people to seek refuge in other countries and causing nations to live in fear.

A bed of Autumn leaves

I get scared when I lay down in bed,

When all my thoughts run through my head,

That is the time when they aren't  confined,

When I am a slave of my own mind.

Anarchism

With the current theme being "Freedom" at the Woluwe Independent, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at one of the most misunderstood and unknown political beliefs in the history of the Universe: Anarchism.

Anarchism is a political philosophy that believes societies should be self governed, and that no rules should exist that could limit one's personal freedom. As it is put by Noam Chomsky, a notable linguistic and political philosopher and activist, Anarchism is a "tendency in human development that seeks to identify structures of authority that constrain human development" and then subject them to a challenge: to justify themselves, and demonstrate they are legitimate, or otherwise accept "dismantling and reconstruction".

Windy Day

by Mélusine Gardey

The Economic Freedom of Today - (and the henceforth lack of one)

On March 9th 1776, Adam Smith officially published his Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations, or The Wealth of Nations for short. In this work, he examined how a nation’s wealth increased, decreased and behaved according to various social and political events and decisions. It is then that he first defined the term invisible hand from an economic point of view. Along with it he introduced the notion of a free market and supported the idea of having a free market. Almost 250 years on, does this notion of free market apply in today’s world?

The Maori Dynasty

Many people know of the British royalty, the Japanese royalty or the Belgian royalty. However, not many people know that the Maori, living in New Zealand, have their own royalty too, despite having been a British colony! It is time for their history and lineage to be revealed!

 

First of all, who are the Maori? The Maori are the indigenous polynesian people of New Zealand. They were the first settlers on these islands, after having gotten there by the means of canoes from the polynesian islands. They lived there in isolation for more than seven hundred years, during which their culture and social customs, the basics coming from the polynesian customs, flourished.

They created tribes, a horticulture and later also a strong warrior culture.

The European colonists, mostly of Great Britain, started arriving on New Zealand in the 17th century; An arrival that changed the way of life of the Maori drastically. The Maori tribes, also called “iwi”, started to adopt many aspects of European society and culture.

Tender chocolate cake recipe (8 people)

This is an Italian recipe passed on to me by my aunt. I hope you like it! 

DISCLAIMER: This is not a recipe suitable for vegans or people with allergies to cow milk and/or eggs! 

General information:

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

100g of butter
3 big spoons of milk

150g of sugar

200g of dark chocolate

A pinch of salt

60g of flour

3 eggs

Interview with 2016 Fashion Show Designers

Each year after a great day of Footfest, we look forward to seeing the talent of our students showcased in the fashion show. Several designers work all year long to make their collections “runway ready”. This past weekend, the model auditions took place. Students walked in front of the designers in hopes of being selected to be a model for their collections. We talked with Jenni Karhunen, Martina Murasso and Alessia Tosetti to find out more about it. We look forward to seeing their collections at this year's Footfest.

The Super Blood Moon

In the night between the 27th and the 28th, the moon was eclipsed by the Earth.

An eclipse happens when a celestial body obscures another one, making it completely or partially shaded; in this case, the Earth and the moon were the two bodies concerned.

The rare and strange thing about this eclipse was that the moon was not eclipsed the way it usually is. During this eclipse, the moon was at the nearest place that it could have been to the Earth, so the details we could see were incredible.

However, this time it also appeared red to the terrestrials, which is why it was called “blood moon” - this term having been used for as long as eclipses have been recorded.

Why We Should Help The Refugees

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, in 2011, four million people have left the country, looking for better conditions of life elsewhere. To this day, countries like Turkey and Lebanon, which are geographically located near the war-torn country, have received and helped the great majority of the refugees. But now they are coming to Europe, and it is time for us to make an important decision, that will change Europe, and very likely the world.

In defence of the European Schools - An open letter in response to POLITICO

Last week, the European edition of POLITICO published an article about the European Schools. The Euroschools rarely attract any press coverage and the internet has remained generally free of journalists caring about our system until now. Once their article appeared on the front page of their website, thousands of students and parents instantly read their critique of the European Schools.

The article was clearly a hit. After four days it remained the second most read article on the POLITICO website, receiving even more views than the coverage of the Greek crisis. It painted a misleading picture of a crumbling education system that alienated most of its students through bureaucracy, and ignoring nationality in a school system resembling a Kafkaesque nightmare. Contact with students as well as graduates and parents upheld our view that the article was misguided and prioritized controversy over fact. In fact, after talking to one of the students who was quoted in the article, it surfaced that her positive outlook of the schools had been overshadowed by cherry-picked criticisms.

Top 3 TV Shows to binge-watch during the summer

Warning! All these shows are rated +16 and deal with mature themes, please keep that in mind if you decide to watch them.

You might have noticed advertisements for this show in the digital panels in the metro: this is because Orange Is The New Black just released its third season on Netflix in June. The summer break would be a great opportunity to catch up on this wonderful show (personally, it's my favourite show ever), or even start from the beginning. 

The Role of the Observer, the Self and Detachment

The world exists as a thing in itself and as an appearance through the senses of the observer. The world of appearances consists of things as we know them by the ordinary means of sense experience and scientific investigation, in other words the empirical world. For Kant these experiences are the phenomena that make up the world. This nature of duality in the world reveals our limitation of knowledge as we can never know the world as it is in itself, but merely how it could appear to us as scientists, philosophers or ordinary perceivers. As Schopenhauer beautifully puts it- “The world is your idea”.

The Jerusalem Syndrome – When everyone thinks they're holy

Last month, as we all know, was Easter, a Christian celebration marking the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For such a celebration it is very popular amongst many people, regardless of their religion, to spend their Easter holidays at the place where it is said it all happened: Jerusalem.

In big groups people arrive and wander around the city, taking pictures, admiring the Temple Mount (called “Haram Al-Sharif), the Western Wall or simply let the interestingly holy feeling of the city wash over them.

It happens though, that the peaceful visit in Jerusalem takes a completely unexpected and surely entirely unwanted turn. It seems that the whole “holiness” of the city can suddenly turn someone from completely normal to a bed sheet-wearing self-proclaimed saint who has made it their mission to preach loudly in the streets of Jerusalem. A rather mortifying experience for all involved.

Do the Failings of Education Systems in Developed Nations Mirror the Failings of Capitalism?

Education systems in developed nations– that is to say advanced institutionalized education structures  - all exist within a narrative of competitive, meritocratic and success driven ideologies. With this in mind, it is not difficult to see the parallel between education systems in developed countries and a free market economy. In a time when capitalism is more and more criticized for its systemic flaws we should examine our education systems and ask why they have continued to water the roots of our free market economy by producing alienated, dissociated workers. Alienation, individualism and the constant drive for financial accomplishment are all by-products of both developed nations’ education systems and capitalism. The failings of developed nations’ education systems mirror the failings of capitalism, which conditions students to a life of consumerism, exploitation and alienated labour. 

Interview with Professor Christopher Brummer of Georgetown University

‘To get to where you want in life, you always have to go through a period of hard work.’

Only 36 and already highly successful. I interviewed Christopher Brummer, law professor at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He started his career at a young age in Germany, and has traveled the world since. He is a great fan of Star Wars and has built quite a collection. I spoke with him over skype, and asked him more about his fascinating life.

Pluie d'étoiles

photo (c) Mikko Lagerstedt

Mini sausage rolls

Mini sausage rolls

Ingredients:

• Mini sausages (or just cut normal sized ones)
• Puff pastry (1 pack out of the fridge)
• Mustard or ketchup (optional)
• 1 egg yolk

The Debating club

We all know: "The importance of learning public speaking for young people today - that students who develop public speaking skills have a skill for life” (Mrs. Andries). This is why our school decided to start a Debating Club. The idea came from an article published in 'The Washington Post’ which explained that debating is needed for educational progress, for work and for full participation in democracy.

Our school was really amazed about the enormous response from the pupils. After so many applications the debate started thanks to Mr. Kehoe who has organized it with the help of other teachers. It was a program held during ten weeks (every Tuesday from January 20th to March 24th) at lunch time in the Prefabs. During this period all 72 students of years 4,5 and 6 who applied could participate in the debate. Furthermore everyone in the school who wanted to could go and watch it.

A simple winter's tale

I heard a story long ago

About a distant land

Where lived a boy, hair white as snow

His name was Merriland.

The town he lived in was a bore

The train passed only twice;

The people there were very old

And didn't seem so nice.

Their eyes were green as emerald

They shined so bright at night;

Though many of them were just bald

No one had hair so bright.

Poor little boy named Merriland

He saw them stare and stare,

He bought a hat from a small band

The price of a train's fare.

He blended in without a sweat

He had turned into glass

And on the streets, brunette, brunette

"I think, produced in mass!"

Why should we read?

In the light of the newspaper launch, we might sit back and ask ourselves as to why we should even waste part of our precious time reading. The outside world provides so much excitement and action, so why stay inside and pick up a book?

The answer is actually quite simple: contrary to popular belief, literature doesn’t close the door to the outside world; instead it opens many more than we’d normally not? have access to. Through books we can experience different cultures, societies and events that would, under normal circumstances, pass us by. Books make us understand the world better. For instance, the Renaissance itself is proof enough that printing is the key to spreading thoughts, opinions and information. Reading encourages critical thinking.

Pizza and the formula of the universe

My Daddy taught me that the universe has been expanding for a long time now; apparently it has been doing so ever since the Big Bang. Even Einstein said that, so it must be true. This means that before I eat a pizza I should at least wait 10 minutes before I start, because during that time my pizza is going to expand and then the volume of my meal will have increased whereas the calories won't. Additionally, since my stomach will also have expanded, it won't even trouble me to eat an even bigger volume of pizza.

Tree of Life

Hello everyone !

I am Lexa, a sixth year student from the French section, and I want to present a painting I have recently done. It represents a tree inspired by the ancient Tree of Life, from the Scandinavian mythology, and it was done with acrylics on a cotton canvas in approximately five hours. This is the fourth painting I have ever done on a canvas, and I am pretty proud of it, despite some mistakes I think I could have avoided.

What was my inspiration for this work ? This 1958 documentary film gave me the idea.

Les Mini-Entreprises de EEB2

Cette année, plusieurs mini-entreprises ont vu le jour à l'EEB2. Oui, mais une mini-entreprise c'est quoi ?

Partout en Europe, on offre la possibilité aux jeunes étudiants (en S6 à l'EEB2) de découvrir le monde de l’entrepreneuriat et de le concrétiser d'avantage. Pour cela, des étudiants créent et gèrent leur propre entreprise pendant quelques mois d'une année scolaire.

Ils occupent chacun différents postes clés dans les départements ressources humaines, commercial, financier et technique, et développent des compétences qui leur seront utiles toute leur vie. En effet, les jeunes perfectionnent non seulement leurs techniques de vente, mais apprennent également en quoi consiste vraiment la gestion, la publicité, le marketing, la comptabilité et plein d'autres notions encore. Vous avez sûrement déjà entendu parler des mini-entreprises de notre école ; mais qui sont-elles vraiment ?

Why should we develop a critical mind?

In present day society, there are numerous ways of thinking, which are cut off from us – not because we’re incapable of them but because various blockages have been developed and imposed to prevent people from thinking in such ways. Being open-minded and having the capacity to see things from more than one point of view is a virtue that people should be encouraged to strengthen from an early age and which can often be found absent in parents and teachers – the people who are responsible for our education. Thus we must take it upon ourselves to not naively accept what is placed in front of us as the only option and use reason and creativity as the tool to free us from the narrow sphere of thought that is adopted by most people in the world right now.

Short story: "Travelling in time"

The time machine has been invented. I look at my brother; I must have misheard. Quickly, I gulp down my cereal and slam the door shut.

The time machine has been invented. I turn my head. No, it can’t be, I must have misheard. Quickly, I push my books into my locker and hurry up the stairs.

The time machine has been invented. I close my eyes and shake my head. I must have misheard.

The time machine has been invented. I must be dreaming. Please, pinch me. My friend obliges. I don’t wake up. It hurts.

They’re looking for test subjects, volunteers. This is new.

My friend looks at me. Yes, we’re signing up.

The wary man in the lab coat stares at my chart, then at me, then at the chart again. I cross my legs. I nibble at my nails. I look down. You’re free to go.

The time machine isn’t what I expected. It’s small, insignificant. I didn’t even notice it at first. I stare at the tiny machine.

My blood is pulsing, my feet are tingling and I’m soaked in green light.

I was told not to touch anything. Just moving one little rock could change the passing of events. I could destroy human existence, with it the invention of the machine, my own conception would be undermined and I would have never lived. But could I then not stand here, not altering the time and therefore still being been born? But then I would exist to alter the time and then I would have changed it…No, I should stop these thoughts. This paradox proves to be too much for my simple-minded brain. 

The stench makes my nose curl. I open my eyes. I have exactly 2 minutes before I dissipate into thin air.

"Thunderstorm"

At 4:33 am, when the street was quiet
I was awake, pale skin glowing, fingers drumming
Eyes glazed, slouched over a computer screen
And I felt happy and miserable all at once
At 4:35 I turned off the lights but left the curtains open
Darkness seeping in, a thunderstorm roaring
A flash of light and a bellowing crack
And I was tucked into bed, safe
A thunderstorm sang me to sleep
Gave me peace from wakefulness
And when I woke up, I didn’t remember my dream
Or the way the bright light must have filled the room that night
When the thunderstorm sang me to sleep.

by Anonymous

'Where did the little spoons go?'

We've all stolen spoons before. No? Okay.

After about a month of anticipation, we present to you the newly launched website. We are ready to start this project with contributions from you.... the students of EEB2.

We know there are a lot of great writers out there, and even more people with interesting ideas to share with other students. We are reaching out to you right now and addressing every writer, artist, any person with a sense of creativity or with an intellectual mind. We hope that the Woluwe Independent will become a collaboration with every one of you who have a passion for something and want to share it with others, establishing bonds, new connections, and starting discussions.

We invite you to submit any content you like- whether you just saw a great movie and would like to recommend it, or you’d like to discuss something that’s been on your mind-  a personal or a worldwide issue. It could be anything.  An essay or a couple of lines on a subject, whatever you feel is right. The WI is here as a platform for communication inside our school, so use it to share what you love, what you want others to notice, even if you choose to do it anonymously.

That being said, we will be waiting for your submissions. Don’t be shy and let’s get this show on the road!

 - The Woluwe Independent team.

FOR SUBMISSIONS, QUESTIONS, HATE MAIL : woluweindependent@gmail.com