Thursday, February 24, 2011
What We Don't Know Can't Hurt Us
To whom it may concern,
Although many may think what we don't know can't hurt us, in actuality is can hinder us greatly. History repeats itself. There are common trends in history and in order to stop them we must learn from our mistakes so similar atrocities do not need to happen again. I am addressing you in order to convince you to keep every piece of history in the history books. The Rape of Nanking and the Holocaust were two huge acts of genocide committed during the second world war. Massive numbers of people died which in return makes these two topics very sad and gruesome. Teaching things like this is crucial. Students need to know what mankind has the ability to do. Students need to know so this they never allow their government to be controlled by corrupted officials. Students need to know that not everything is sugar-coated. The most unpleasing aspects of history are the ones we can learn from the most. It would be a crime to raise a generation of students who are naive to such tragedies. With the lost knowledge of the subject also comes with lost knowledge of the people lost. Millions of people who suffered and died will be lost in our memories. Those who wished for their story to be told for centuries so another soul would not have to suffer as they did will be lost. Taking away this chance to learn about something so impactful would be a regrettable one that may alter furture events greatly.
Although many may think what we don't know can't hurt us, in actuality is can hinder us greatly. History repeats itself. There are common trends in history and in order to stop them we must learn from our mistakes so similar atrocities do not need to happen again. I am addressing you in order to convince you to keep every piece of history in the history books. The Rape of Nanking and the Holocaust were two huge acts of genocide committed during the second world war. Massive numbers of people died which in return makes these two topics very sad and gruesome. Teaching things like this is crucial. Students need to know what mankind has the ability to do. Students need to know so this they never allow their government to be controlled by corrupted officials. Students need to know that not everything is sugar-coated. The most unpleasing aspects of history are the ones we can learn from the most. It would be a crime to raise a generation of students who are naive to such tragedies. With the lost knowledge of the subject also comes with lost knowledge of the people lost. Millions of people who suffered and died will be lost in our memories. Those who wished for their story to be told for centuries so another soul would not have to suffer as they did will be lost. Taking away this chance to learn about something so impactful would be a regrettable one that may alter furture events greatly.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Just Look the Other Way
Genocide is the annilhilation of a specific group of people. I agree that genocide is a horrendus crime and those who do it should be punished for doing something this heartless. But I do not feel it is the job of the United States government to stop it. As much as people wish to believe we are the world police, we are not. We should let the people involved deal with it themselves.
To become involved with stopping an act of genocide with a group means great conflict. It will not be as easy as the president calling up the people comitting the genocide "hey can you stop this please? I really do not like what you are doing, it's definitely not the right thing to do." If you did that they would laugh and tell us to shove it where the sun don't shine. Rather fighting would begin and many American soldiers would die in a conflict that doesn't even involve us and the American people would be up in arms about that. Although this is my stance on the topic, I do support organizations against genocide and the help of refugees. Also if we are already involved in a conflict with a country and they are mass murdering a group of people, I think it is ok to be involved then. For example in WWII, we were already fighting the Nazi's and we also found the concentration camps, helping makes sense. It would be morally wrong to just turn you shoulder there when helping is within an arms reach.
Getting involved with other countries problems in general is something I strongly urge against. Watching ourselves is just enough. So I feel with an instance such a getting involved with another country that is committing genocide, I feel it is better to be naive and ignorant and just look the other way.
To become involved with stopping an act of genocide with a group means great conflict. It will not be as easy as the president calling up the people comitting the genocide "hey can you stop this please? I really do not like what you are doing, it's definitely not the right thing to do." If you did that they would laugh and tell us to shove it where the sun don't shine. Rather fighting would begin and many American soldiers would die in a conflict that doesn't even involve us and the American people would be up in arms about that. Although this is my stance on the topic, I do support organizations against genocide and the help of refugees. Also if we are already involved in a conflict with a country and they are mass murdering a group of people, I think it is ok to be involved then. For example in WWII, we were already fighting the Nazi's and we also found the concentration camps, helping makes sense. It would be morally wrong to just turn you shoulder there when helping is within an arms reach.
Getting involved with other countries problems in general is something I strongly urge against. Watching ourselves is just enough. So I feel with an instance such a getting involved with another country that is committing genocide, I feel it is better to be naive and ignorant and just look the other way.
Cinderella Man Outline
1. Characters
- James (Jimmy) J. Braddock. The main character who's life we follow through the years of the Great Depression
- Mae Braddock. Wife of James J. Braddock. Although she does not agree with boxing due to the violence, but she her support is vital to her husband
- Joe Gould. Both a friend and manager to Braddock. He gives Braddock a second chance when nobody else did and helped to financially support the Braddock family when Jimmy started to train again.
- Max Baer. Brutal boxing world champion that Braddock must face in the ring.
- Jimmy and his family are comfortable and live in a nice suburban house in New Jersey
- He is a light heavyweight fighter with a great record
- In one of his fights he broke his hand so he had to give up boxing
- When the Great Depression (http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/depression/overview.htm) began, like most other people in this time Jimmy and his family lost everything in the stock market.
- He began to work as a longshoreman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longshoreman) to make money for his family. In this line of work he began to use his left hand which was also his broken hand and it soon became stronger than his right.
- Joe Gould came into the picture again one day where he offered Jimmy another opportunity to fight but not only is his opponent a heavyweight but the 2 best in the world
- After accepting this, he trains and goes on to win the fight. He is then offered another fight in which he overcomes the odds again and wins.
- He is now coined with the name Cinderella Man and the Pride of New Jersey
- Braddock must now face Max Baer. Baer is the world champion and is known for killing two men in the ring so far in his career. http://maxbaer.org/
- Although his wife and others urge him not to fight, he goes ahead and fights and in a 15 round fight he beats Baer
- Jimmy proudly served in World War II.
- With his earnings from the fight he buys the house that him and Mae live in for the rest of their lives.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Acrostic Poem
Possession of alcohol banned
Rise in crime
Old Americans and New Americans split society in two
Harlem Reniaissance
Installment Plan begins
Buying on Margin
Interest rates are lower
Tennessee teacher put on trial for teaching evolution
Immigration Act of 1924 limits amount of incoming immigratns allowed
Organizations like womens organizations pushed the illegalization of alochol the most
No money left in the banks, depression starts.
Rumrunners
Organized crime takes charge
African-Americans migrate north
Racial backround becomes a problem again
Intonicating liquor is consumed more than ever now that it is banned
Now Russia becomes Soviet Union
Great drought occurs in the western part of the country
Too much loaning money to people
Women who are young and trendy are called flappers
Even the cops did not inforce the law
No immigrants were trusted
They were thought to be spies
IRS in charge of prohibition enforcement
Election of FDR caused the repeal of this short-lived amendment
Speakeasy's become the bee's knee's
Rise in crime
Old Americans and New Americans split society in two
Harlem Reniaissance
Installment Plan begins
Buying on Margin
Interest rates are lower
Tennessee teacher put on trial for teaching evolution
Immigration Act of 1924 limits amount of incoming immigratns allowed
Organizations like womens organizations pushed the illegalization of alochol the most
No money left in the banks, depression starts.
Rumrunners
Organized crime takes charge
African-Americans migrate north
Racial backround becomes a problem again
Intonicating liquor is consumed more than ever now that it is banned
Now Russia becomes Soviet Union
Great drought occurs in the western part of the country
Too much loaning money to people
Women who are young and trendy are called flappers
Even the cops did not inforce the law
No immigrants were trusted
They were thought to be spies
IRS in charge of prohibition enforcement
Election of FDR caused the repeal of this short-lived amendment
Speakeasy's become the bee's knee's
A little help from my friends
The group presentations we did in class taught me alot. Not only did I learn valuable information about some of the most notorious gangsters in our history but i also learned alot about planning and time management. When working in groups social loafing often occurs (people slack off and rely on the other group members to do the work for them). I will say that sometimes that kid is me but with a presentation like the one given I realize the vital need of complete and total participation from every single person to get the desired outcome that we all want, the A.
Planning a project like this is something I am new to doing but I found very useful. In most cases I would just jump into the project whether it being a poster or a paper, but they never were their full potential. But with this planning system shown really helps keep the project on task and made it easier to know what to look for without just spitting out random information about the topic in an order that doesnt make much sense
I also learned alot about Machine Gun Kelly. The stereotypical gangster of the 1920's to me is an Italian male who enjoys wearing pinstripe suits and lives in New York City. But to be a nortioius gangster you do not have to fit into that stereotype of commit any crimes for a matter of fact. Machine Gun Kelly was born to a rich family in Memphis Tennesse. He went to school for agriculture but dropped out to marry the love of his life and became a cab driver. He soon became a part of organized crime. He often boasted about many crimes he did not commit and in Alcatraz he was considered to be a model inmate. He got his name for the Machine Gun he carried even though he never shot anyone.
Although whenever a student hears the word presentation, they run and hide due to the fact they are not the most fun thing to do, they really provide alot of information for the researcher. Looking up information is the best way to retain it and I felt that i honestly learned alot not just crammed and forget the next day. Projects like this let me know i can get by with a little from my friends.
Planning a project like this is something I am new to doing but I found very useful. In most cases I would just jump into the project whether it being a poster or a paper, but they never were their full potential. But with this planning system shown really helps keep the project on task and made it easier to know what to look for without just spitting out random information about the topic in an order that doesnt make much sense
I also learned alot about Machine Gun Kelly. The stereotypical gangster of the 1920's to me is an Italian male who enjoys wearing pinstripe suits and lives in New York City. But to be a nortioius gangster you do not have to fit into that stereotype of commit any crimes for a matter of fact. Machine Gun Kelly was born to a rich family in Memphis Tennesse. He went to school for agriculture but dropped out to marry the love of his life and became a cab driver. He soon became a part of organized crime. He often boasted about many crimes he did not commit and in Alcatraz he was considered to be a model inmate. He got his name for the Machine Gun he carried even though he never shot anyone.
Although whenever a student hears the word presentation, they run and hide due to the fact they are not the most fun thing to do, they really provide alot of information for the researcher. Looking up information is the best way to retain it and I felt that i honestly learned alot not just crammed and forget the next day. Projects like this let me know i can get by with a little from my friends.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
No Way Out
Alcatraz, located on San Francisco Bay, is known as being the jail that held some of the most notorious gangsters in U.S history. Before holding these criminals, Alcatraz was a military prison that was mostly used in the Civil War. In the early 1930's it turned into the max security prison that we all know it to be. In the 30 years that it was in use as a prison of the worst criminals we had in our country, not a single person successfully escaped. Why is that?
Well for one this jail is on it's own little island. Also the harsh waters around the island made it even harder for prisoners to escape. Those who could not swim were out of luck, those who were able to swim could not overcome mother nature and the harsh waters, and in addition to that, the water was very cold so escaping is a nightmare. But the even though the odds were against them from the beginning, there were 14 attempts of escape from 36 prisoners. 23 were caught, 6 were shot and 3 were lost at sea and never found but it was presumed they drowned. If the worst criminals could not get out who could?
Although it's time as a max security was short-lived, Alcatraz will live in infamy for all that happened there. Being admitted there was like a nightmare and trying to get out on your own was even worse. Even though most of them left Alcatraz within a couple years, Alcatraz never really left them.
Well for one this jail is on it's own little island. Also the harsh waters around the island made it even harder for prisoners to escape. Those who could not swim were out of luck, those who were able to swim could not overcome mother nature and the harsh waters, and in addition to that, the water was very cold so escaping is a nightmare. But the even though the odds were against them from the beginning, there were 14 attempts of escape from 36 prisoners. 23 were caught, 6 were shot and 3 were lost at sea and never found but it was presumed they drowned. If the worst criminals could not get out who could?
Although it's time as a max security was short-lived, Alcatraz will live in infamy for all that happened there. Being admitted there was like a nightmare and trying to get out on your own was even worse. Even though most of them left Alcatraz within a couple years, Alcatraz never really left them.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Scopes Trial
John Scopes was put on trial for teaching his high school class about evolution, in a classroom today, this is the complete opposite. Everybody has their own mind set on how people came to how they are today. Science and religion have never seen eye to eye and on this topic especially. But who's to say that either of these theories are more correct than the other? Nobody. There is not a single person that can tell you their theory is 100% correct, because we don't know. So in a school setting which do you teach? This is not a topic that you can just completely take away to never be discussed because that is not a logical idea. Picking just one doesn't seem right, so why not teach them both?
Teaching both religion and evolution would be ideal because it leaves the student to believe what they want to believe. It gives them a choice and broadens their horizon of knowledge. By learning both they will not be ignorant to the opposing side. I feel this will ultimately end conflict with the topic, because now a choice is given.
Of course actually accomplishing this is not something that can be done overnight. There is always that one person/group that doesn't like the outcome. But I feel this topic will not ever come to a happy conclusion. There are too many different thoughts on how we got here, and how all of this started. Because we honestly don't know mankind comes up with a plethora of different thoughts on the matter, and thats why this topic will never be fully resolved.
Teaching both religion and evolution would be ideal because it leaves the student to believe what they want to believe. It gives them a choice and broadens their horizon of knowledge. By learning both they will not be ignorant to the opposing side. I feel this will ultimately end conflict with the topic, because now a choice is given.
Of course actually accomplishing this is not something that can be done overnight. There is always that one person/group that doesn't like the outcome. But I feel this topic will not ever come to a happy conclusion. There are too many different thoughts on how we got here, and how all of this started. Because we honestly don't know mankind comes up with a plethora of different thoughts on the matter, and thats why this topic will never be fully resolved.
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