Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
HW35: Letter to my blog readers
I have been writing blogs for my ITW blogging class for the past thirteen weeks. I have learned from blogging that there are many different ways that people can express themselves, and publish their work. Blogging is a way for people to get information out in the open without having to be an author; normal everyday people go onto these sites and either write their own posts or comment on others. This has helped me become familiar with the new techniques of technology. Maintaining my own blog has been important to me and has been considered an advantage to me. I hope that people can gain knowledge and understand different perspectives of situations from my blog. I also hope that my blog will attract new members to blogging. My proudest piece of work is the blog I posted on November 13, 2007 named "HW33: Respond to a Podcast". I am proud of this, because I have posted video clips of actual people in Iraq telling their agonizing lives. This will give people an outlook on life, and will help people understand the challenges our globe is going through. As this class comes to an end, I think that I will still update my blog. It may not be an everyday event, but once in a while I will view blogs and check up on what is happening out there. Blogging is a wonderful opportunity, and I think that whomever is reading this (if you do not have one currently) should subscribe to this free blogging site. It is a chance for you to be yourself without letting the world know who you are (or you can let them know who you are).
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
HW34:Responding to Riverbend
Today as I was reading Baghdad, I read about many new facts of Iraqi people. Gold plays a large role in their lives. When Riverbend's aunt reached checkpoint she got very nervous, because she was carrying all of her jewels in her leather bag. Their jewelry is very precious to them, because they don't have very many valuables. Gold is a part of the Iraqi culture and plays a part of "family savings", this has increased ever since 1990. People converted their money to gold and jewelry, because gold's value doesn't change whereas money's value does. "People pulled their money out of banks before the war, and bought gold instead" (Riverbend, 100). It was so precious to the people of Iraq, and the American soldiers basically said that they weren't good enough to own gold. She had said about two Iraqi's marriage, once they are married the man gives the woman a mahar made of all gold jewelry. Paraphrasing what she had said that they do to prevent Americans from taking their jewels, they find unusual hiding places and often hide them in their clothing. "It was a game for days, during May, when the raids began and we started hearing tales of the 'confiscation' of valuables like gold and dollars during the raids" (Riverbend, 101).
Another importance to the Iraqi citizen's are date palms. This is a way for people to make money by growing date palms ( different types of palm trees). These trees are also known as "nakhla", and no yard is complete without one. These trees are a great significance. " In the winter months, they act as "resorts" for the exotic birds that flock to Iraq" (Riverbend, 103). Paraphrasing what she said about the summer months, the female palms provide hundreds of dates and are a good storage source. Many different food sources can be made out of different substances from the dates. These trees serve as a main source of many things to the people of Iraq. "Each tree is so unique, it feels like a member of the family... I remember watching a scenes from the war a couple of days after the bombing began -one image that stuck in my mind was that of a palm tree broken in half, the majestic fronds wilting and dragging on the ground" (Riverbend, 105). The way she explains this is almost as if she were looking at a dead body, that is how important they are to her.
Another importance to the Iraqi citizen's are date palms. This is a way for people to make money by growing date palms ( different types of palm trees). These trees are also known as "nakhla", and no yard is complete without one. These trees are a great significance. " In the winter months, they act as "resorts" for the exotic birds that flock to Iraq" (Riverbend, 103). Paraphrasing what she said about the summer months, the female palms provide hundreds of dates and are a good storage source. Many different food sources can be made out of different substances from the dates. These trees serve as a main source of many things to the people of Iraq. "Each tree is so unique, it feels like a member of the family... I remember watching a scenes from the war a couple of days after the bombing began -one image that stuck in my mind was that of a palm tree broken in half, the majestic fronds wilting and dragging on the ground" (Riverbend, 105). The way she explains this is almost as if she were looking at a dead body, that is how important they are to her.
HW33: Respond to a Podcast
Podcasts have been becoming a new interest to me and my blogging class. I viewed some of the podcasts, one being "Iraqi Teens work to help their families". This is incorporated on the site alive in Baghdad, and was published 10/15/07. You can view the podcast too at : http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families
This covers the children in Iraq's daily lives and what they have to struggle through. 50% of people in Iraq are jobless, and most of the children (mostly males) work as much as possible to help support their families. The video showed clips of different young Iraqi citizens, meaning real evidence as to what is truly happening. One person states that their is a security and it is difficult to protect yourself. People can't even work at their job sites without being threatened of murder. That is why people are starting to have workshops at their own homes. The background in the video was devastating, the streets looked abandoned and all work was done manually. People's clothes were awful skimpy, and it looked like a horrific place to call home. One particular person in the clip is very memorable to me. His name was Yousif, and he was a student at the College of Agriculture; unemployed. He was born with a birth defect, and has had many operations to correct it. He looked very sad, and in agony of what he has to daily go through. Life is rough for him, and he tells us by saying "look at the situation we live in", meaning please stop terrorism and come at peace. We need to learn from this to consider the lives that are at stake. I have never seen such footage this revealing and devastating.
Another podcast that I viewed was called "Challenges at a girls school in Baghdad", published on 5/21/2007. This is also a part of the series Alive In Baghdad, which can be viewed at: http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/05/21/challenges-at-a-girls-school-in-baghdad
This particular podcast covers information on how it is difficult for females to go to school. They interview the director of the Al-Safina Middle School (an all girls school)Jinan Jamel Mahmoud, a teacher and students as well. 225 female students from all over Baghdad go here to get an education and they explain how extremely dangerous it is. Not only is it dangerous, but the quality of their schools is gloomy and run-down. The supplies for students seem to be low, and a poor quality. When it came to interviewing the director, she claimed that there was a variety of teaching experience. She was wearing a headdress along with many of the others. They asked if she felt as if her school was suffering and she exclaimed that schools everywhere are suffering. "Schools are often shut down for 10 days due to searches", this is showing us that we are damaging people's futures and present lives. Students even say that fear lives by going to school, because you never know if you are going to make it or not. That was truly memorable to me and it made me realize that these people are just like us and need some peace. People can also learn the same moral from this video. The video reminds me of news clips that I see on television showing all of the people suffering from lack of education.
This covers the children in Iraq's daily lives and what they have to struggle through. 50% of people in Iraq are jobless, and most of the children (mostly males) work as much as possible to help support their families. The video showed clips of different young Iraqi citizens, meaning real evidence as to what is truly happening. One person states that their is a security and it is difficult to protect yourself. People can't even work at their job sites without being threatened of murder. That is why people are starting to have workshops at their own homes. The background in the video was devastating, the streets looked abandoned and all work was done manually. People's clothes were awful skimpy, and it looked like a horrific place to call home. One particular person in the clip is very memorable to me. His name was Yousif, and he was a student at the College of Agriculture; unemployed. He was born with a birth defect, and has had many operations to correct it. He looked very sad, and in agony of what he has to daily go through. Life is rough for him, and he tells us by saying "look at the situation we live in", meaning please stop terrorism and come at peace. We need to learn from this to consider the lives that are at stake. I have never seen such footage this revealing and devastating.
Another podcast that I viewed was called "Challenges at a girls school in Baghdad", published on 5/21/2007. This is also a part of the series Alive In Baghdad, which can be viewed at: http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/05/21/challenges-at-a-girls-school-in-baghdad
This particular podcast covers information on how it is difficult for females to go to school. They interview the director of the Al-Safina Middle School (an all girls school)Jinan Jamel Mahmoud, a teacher and students as well. 225 female students from all over Baghdad go here to get an education and they explain how extremely dangerous it is. Not only is it dangerous, but the quality of their schools is gloomy and run-down. The supplies for students seem to be low, and a poor quality. When it came to interviewing the director, she claimed that there was a variety of teaching experience. She was wearing a headdress along with many of the others. They asked if she felt as if her school was suffering and she exclaimed that schools everywhere are suffering. "Schools are often shut down for 10 days due to searches", this is showing us that we are damaging people's futures and present lives. Students even say that fear lives by going to school, because you never know if you are going to make it or not. That was truly memorable to me and it made me realize that these people are just like us and need some peace. People can also learn the same moral from this video. The video reminds me of news clips that I see on television showing all of the people suffering from lack of education.
HW32: Responding to Riverbend
As I continued reading Riverbend, she had mentioned that Iraqi's marry their cousins!! Why, I though to myself? " He simplifies the whole situation incredibly stating that because Iraqi's tend to marry cousins, they'll be less likely to turn each other into American forces for all sorts of reasons that all lead back to nepotism" (Riverbend, 87). She associated that in larger cities (Baghdad) people are more likely to not marry cousins. Mentioning that in small poorer cities there are sometimes only four or five large"tribes" or "clans". This meaning that everyone is related to one another, and in order to reproduce they must do it with a relative. Merely each person is referred to as a cousin, so tribes such as this one have one main leader or "Sheikh". Mainly it is a man that is the leader, and surprisingly they are the ones who make most of the money and often can be wealthy. "He is usually considered the wisest or most influential member of the family" (Riverbend, 88). Considering that most of them have very good college degrees this is bound to happen.The sheikh's first wife is often referred to as the "First Lady" and also is looked up to by the other family members.
HW 30: Iraq Body Count
I went to another citizenship symposium, it was called Iraq Body Count: Real People Fake Numbers. This was a speech given by an associate professor at Keene State College, Stephen J. Clark PhD. The speech was informative on whether the facts and information that we receive from the press is reliable or not when it comes to the war in Iraq. We are reading a book in class called Baghdad Burning, and it relates to the same idea. The author is filling us in on what is really happening in Iraq, so that we are not filled in with phony information. How do we as Americans know that what we hear and see is real or not?! He told us to "think deeply about what people inform us about this war, and take into serious consideration whether it is true or not." We also need to think about the impact that we are having on Iraq, on thing that really caught my attention is when he used the comparison of deaths monthly in Iraq to the comparison of deaths yearly in Washington, D.C. This means that the amount of people killed in D.C. in ONE YEAR is equivalent to the amount of people who die in ONE MONTH in Iraq. This is certainly devastating and very life altering for these people. Professor Clark said that us people need to fix this issue and help these people out, but by doing so we need to take some precautions and make sure that all of the information that we receive is valid and useful. America needs to come together as a nation and come to conclusion with this tragedy! We have more to worry about other than hurting our fellow citizens.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
HW30: Citizenship and Responsibility
Today there was another presentation that was a part of the citizenship symposium week. A man named Tom Lantos came to speak about our nation and his life experiences, the name of his presentation was Citizenship and Responsibility. It started out with his daughter Katrina introducing him and telling the audience about a little of their background. She informed us that her father is and will be the only survivor of the Holocaust serving in congress. She mentioned that he had nothing when he came to America except for $5.00, and he wanted to make something of himself. In 1980, he ran for congress and then introduced his first act, which was to introduce legislation. Her speech came to an end and her father entered the stage. He started by telling us that he had just met the new French President yesterday, and was speaking with him. Furthermore, he spoke about how America's reputation appears to be horrific all over the world. He stated all of the negatives and positives from each side. It bothered him that historical politicians stated that all men are created equal, when they betrayed their own statement and owned private slaves. Tom said that they should have made the statement all men and women are created equal instead of just men. Since he came over here at the age of 19 with nothing to offer he wanted to make a positive difference to America. Something does need to be done about this, because the image of the U.S. globally is at an all time low. He wanted to portray a positive image of the U.S. and said "America did not teach men the idea of freedom, she taught them how to practice it". Leading examples of this are that the United States indeed has helped many of countries improve over the years. The U.S.A. saved Germany from Hitler and they also saved them from two generations of the Soviet Union, and the rate of Anti-American Germans is increasing rapidly. Countries like these ignore the fact that America has helped them, and overlook it as what is happening globally now.But, France's point of view is changing. Concretely in detail he said that Americans have helped them significantly and whenever he hears about an American soldier dying he feels like a member of his family is dying because of what they have done for them. The most interesting thing that I learned was that Europe or the U.S. have had the most infrastructure globally since the 1700's. People are glad that the U.S. is there to help whether they admit it or not (maybe not in Iraq). Especially Africa, because we have donated $15 billion to aids over there. Some people are starting to have more of a positive outlook on the U.S. and of course their are still millions of people who have the opposite of that!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
HW30: "What Kind OF Democracy Do We Want?"
Today, I attended a presentation that was a part of the Keene State College Citizenship Symposium week. Three guest speakers came to preach about the problems that are occurring in our government. "What kind of Democracy do we want?", was the name of the presentation. Provost Emile Netzhammer started the event introducing and summarizing some events that are happening today. He mentioned that here in Keene, New Hampshire us citizens have the right to participation of the government by attending town meetings and different political events that are happening locally. He also discussed how people in the U.S. are lucky and are able to express themselves. As his speech ended he cam forward and announced the Mayor of Keene, Michael Blastos. Michael is reported to be Keene's longest serving mayor in Keene's history. He conversed mainly about the constitution and how it is a living document. He presented Keene State College with a proclamation containing his signature. Next, was the most significant speaker of the event Nancy Tobi. She is a New Hampshire resident, and is the founder of "Democracy for New Hampshire". She began speaking about how voting is a big part of our government and presented us with a power point "Citizen's Gone Wild: Taking Control Of Our Democracy". She provided a background of herself, she was raised in Lexington, MA (a.k.a. Birthplace of America). Introducing her PowerPoint she claimed "We are going to talk about a lot of dirty stuff, but once we get through the politics the sun will shine through". This meant that the politics are the causes of all of the crazy catastrophes that are happening today in society. The voting process became a big part of the speech, learning much new devastating information. 80% of national votes are counted by programmed computers, meaning that the votes are either getting altered or completely changed. This became very interesting to me and it made me think of what a mess society really is. She used much concrete detail in her speech, one including sunshine is the best disinfectant in the government. This was to be translated as, look positively at all situations that may arise.
Monday, November 5, 2007
HW31: Responding to Riverbend
As I continued reading Riverbend's book Baghdad Burning, I stumbled across something that caught my attention. Many horrific events were occurring in Baghdad, and that included malnutrition and diseases leading to unhealthy births. People were dying from diseases that could be cured with nothing but medication, but they were forbidden causing people to die. Babies being born were now experiencing major birth defects. She had claimed, "I remember seeing babies born with a single eye, 3 legs, or no face- a result of DU [ depleted uranium] poisoning" (Riverbend, 47). This was more of a result in 1991 when uranium weapons were being used to harm people. Depleted Uranium is highly radioactive, this is why it was causing so many birth defects. This substance contains heavy metals in which the compounds are harmful towards mammals, proven by many lab studies. The most common way that this is misled is in ammunition. Since this substance was released in large quantities, it affected people without even touching them. It was highly toxic in the air, causing it to be a major substance to be inhaled. With millions of people breathing in this toxic waste, it caused women to deliver the toxins to their fetus while impregnated. Seeming that Riverbend claimed to have seen this happen more than once, it must have been a large problem in Baghdad at the time.
A link to my information site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium
Works Cited
"Depleted Uranium". Wikipedia. 4 Nov. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005.
A link to my information site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium
Works Cited
"Depleted Uranium". Wikipedia. 4 Nov. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
HW28: Open letter to Riverbend
Dear Riverbend,
I have been reading your book Baghdad Burning, being a U.S. citizen I will be able to compromise and converse about these issue with you. Often, a lot of the times in America the press does not reveal the whole truth about some of these issues that are happening in Iraq. If we were provided with more knowledge of these issues people would be more willing to partake in positive action of the war. The book and blogs that you have published is a great advantage for us Americans, because now we have first hand knowledge to base our thoughts on. The problems that you face in Iraq daily are very traumatic and devastating. Having to face so many deaths of those people who are very close to you is very saddening to me. The sympathy that I have for your country is unbearable, if there were only something that I could do to stop this terror from happening. This war has effected me tremendously, but I do not have to face the treacherous fears of not knowing if I will be safe in my own home or even going to the store. The fact that troops raid people's homes is awful, why would people do such a thing to these innocent people who are asking for nothing but peace. When you said that you don't hate Americans, I am in the same standing position for Iraqi's. I do not like the Iraqi's who harmed our country, and the same goes for you not liking the American Troops. I do not blame you for having some form of hatred to the people who tear your country and citizen's apart daily. This war has nothing left to prove, just to prove that it is going to cause more hatred amongst Iraq and the U.S. The only way to come at peace with all of this is for it to come to an end. I am terribly sorry for all of the treacherous moments that you have had from this, but with all hope it will come to an end.
Sincerely,
Renee
I have been reading your book Baghdad Burning, being a U.S. citizen I will be able to compromise and converse about these issue with you. Often, a lot of the times in America the press does not reveal the whole truth about some of these issues that are happening in Iraq. If we were provided with more knowledge of these issues people would be more willing to partake in positive action of the war. The book and blogs that you have published is a great advantage for us Americans, because now we have first hand knowledge to base our thoughts on. The problems that you face in Iraq daily are very traumatic and devastating. Having to face so many deaths of those people who are very close to you is very saddening to me. The sympathy that I have for your country is unbearable, if there were only something that I could do to stop this terror from happening. This war has effected me tremendously, but I do not have to face the treacherous fears of not knowing if I will be safe in my own home or even going to the store. The fact that troops raid people's homes is awful, why would people do such a thing to these innocent people who are asking for nothing but peace. When you said that you don't hate Americans, I am in the same standing position for Iraqi's. I do not like the Iraqi's who harmed our country, and the same goes for you not liking the American Troops. I do not blame you for having some form of hatred to the people who tear your country and citizen's apart daily. This war has nothing left to prove, just to prove that it is going to cause more hatred amongst Iraq and the U.S. The only way to come at peace with all of this is for it to come to an end. I am terribly sorry for all of the treacherous moments that you have had from this, but with all hope it will come to an end.
Sincerely,
Renee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)