I Promised Myself I Wouldn't Cry

Ok, my title is a little dramatic, but I have had a lot of fun this year in Modern World History with Mama Pugs. Though Mama Pugs teaching style is far different than any other history teacher I have ever had I feel like I am going to remember more from this class that any other. I loved the second semester whether it be blogging, reading Maus, or doing the final project. The most important thing that I learned this year was that history is sometimes hidden and you have to go and look for it. But once you find it, it is the best feeling in the world. I learned to articulate my argument and take criticism (a lot of it). To conclude, I feel that not only has my analytic writing improved but also my argument creation and my ability to take criticism.

Thanks Mama Pugs for a great year and I wish the best to D-Pugs...

--Ryan "I Complain A Lot" Stastny

Communist China: What's the real deal?

After reading both boxes on pages 766 and 769 I am some what confused just because the articles are so different. They have similar goals, but do it in different ways. In the first article, the poor peasants at first fear the old regime and refuse to speak out. But after being reminded of the past oppression, these men and women articulated their argument and re-approached the officials. They did so in a some what formal manner in contrary to the second article. The second article discusses the extremist side of Chinese communism. These hooligans took Chairman Mao's word far too literal when he explains to destroy, in order to establish. It's hard to fathom, young men around my age destroying houses like these men did. The scary part is that they felt that it was completely justified. These two articles show the reader two different sides of Chinese communists: the rational side v. the extreme side.

My Dad's Story

My dad remebered very little from this time seeing that he was only seven when the majority of the Cold War happened. One thing that I found interesting was when I asked him when it ended he said that it still hasn't. And this reminded me of our talk with Ms. Pugliese's friend Em. Another event he clearly remebered was Bay of Pigs. He said that he remebered the day that it began and said it felt like weeks until the Russian boats finally turned around. Another thing he remebered was building a bomb shelter below his house with his grandfather. He vividly remebers taking bags of cement, bricks, canned foods, and cupboards into the basement of his house. Later he built the bomb shelter with his grandfather which still exists today. Truthfully, both my father and mother remebered very little and never truly were scared for their lives during the Cold War.

The Middle East's Economy: Oil

Since I am one of the last to post on this topic I decided to choose a semi-extraneous country: Oman. Before reading this textbook I had never even heard of Oman so I thought it would be interesting to research. First off, I notice it's location is favorable because it is on the ocean which makes it easier to trade. Also the trip to India, Pakistan, and Iran is not far by boat which is a definite plus. One thing that I notice right off the bat is that it is noticeably smaller compared to it's neighbor Qatar. This could factor into it's local political power and respect. Now to analyze some statistics. Like I thought Oman has always thrived because of it's location and it's easiness with trade. Another thing I learned was that it has always had strong ties to England. It's climate is dry and humid and it's countryside contains desert. Oman has a small population with a little more than 3 million, however it's population growth rate is around 3%. Another thing I learned was that Oman gained it's independence in 1650 from Portugal which is a lot earlier than the majority of the African colonies. To explain it's economy CIA-The World Factbook explains, "Oman is a middle-income economy that is heavily dependent on dwindling oil resources, but sustained high oil prices in recent years have helped build Oman's budget and trade surpluses and foreign reserves. As a result of its dwindling oil resources, Oman is actively pursuing a development plan that focuses on diversification, industrialization, and privatization, with the objective of reducing the oil sector's contribution to GDP to 9% by 2020." To conclude, it looks to me that the country of Oman fits the mold of the majority of Middle Eastern countries: it's economy thrives off of oil.

Post-Colonization Literature

1) The Kite Runner by, Khaled Hosseini
The story of a young boy Amir growing up in Afghanistan and his friendship with a boy named Hassan. They live in to completely different worlds, but fight the odds and become best friends. Then one day after Amir betrays Hassan they no longer can stay friends and Hassan and his father move to California. I loved this story and hated putting it down. It is a greatly written story while at the same time describing the history of Kabul. It also describes the fearful journey in immigrating to America from Afghanistan.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Kite-Runner/Khaled-Hosseini/e/9781594480003
http://www.curledup.com/kiterun.htm

2) Things Fall Apart by, Chinua Achebe
The tragic story of a man living in Nigeria named Okonkwo. Achebe portrays a traditional African village that is corrupted by European influence. The main conflict the reader follows is Okonkwo vs. the Europeans. In the end the Europeans drive Okonkwo to kill himself. I didn't like reading this story just because the language was so simple and everything was said so literally. There was little room for debate because everything was literally written. The story however is quite informative because it puts a name and face to European colonization in Africa.
http://wsu.edu/~brians/anglophone/achebe.html
http://www.africaspeaks.com/leslie/2808.html

3) Blood Diamond directed by, Edward Zwick
The Internet Movie Database describes it as: "A story following Archer, a man tortured by his roots. With a strong survival instinct, he has made himself a key player in the business of conflict diamonds. Political unrest is rampant in Sierra Leone as people fight tooth for tooth. Upon meeting Solomon, and the beautiful Maddy, Archer's life changes forever as he is given a chance to make peace with the war around him." This compelling story moves me and truly shows us the results of colonization in Sierra Leone.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450259/
http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/movies/08diam.html

Colonization in Africa

The two things I researched were Dream and Reality: Political and Economic Conditions in Independent Africa and the second was Kenya. The program of the OAU called for an Africa based on freedom, equality, justice, and dignity. Soon after this was written reality set in. Vast disparities in education, income, and unemployment made it hard to truly establish democracy. The concept of "one person, one vote" was an immediate disappointment. And after many African countries gained their independence more than 70 were overthrown by violence. Kenya welcomed foreign investment and the idea of capitalism. With capitalism came it's own dilemmas. Although a substantial middle class was forming their were still many economic problems. Around one-fifth of the country's thirty million were squatters. And around forty-five percent were unemployed. In addition the population was increasing by three percent per year: one of the highest percentages in the world. The country wasn't helping it's own cause seeing that disputes between ethnic groups persisted. When looking at the current stats Kenya is doing medium to good compared to other African countries. Their population continues to grow and in 2005 34,256,000 people lived in Kenya. One stunning statistic is the fact that 84%% of adults are literate. The gross national income is still quite low, however it is far superior than other countries. I believe that since Kenya incorporated a capitalistic economy they were able to truly develop as an independent country.

Armenian Genocide Memorials

My original idea for Part One of our final project was to simply research Mother Armenia, a monument located in Yerevan, Armenia but then I stumbled upon The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. Soon after I found this site, which collects lots and lots of Armenian Genocide Memorials by separating them by country. So my new and improved project plan is to research lots of different monuments from this one site. The question I created is, "How is the Armenian Genocide of 1915 mainly portrayed? And how do different countries represent this horrific genocide?" I plan on choosing countries who actually take a role in this situation such as Germany and will try not to pick countries such as Venezuela that has no true connection. Later in my research I discovered that many of these monuments have either been destroyed or stolen which suggests that the Armenians may still be a hated race. Who is stealing/destroying these monuments and why are they doing it? Finally is there a common thread between the builders of these monuments? And is there a certain sculptor who revolutionized Armenian Genocide Monuments/did one sculptor create multiple monuments? One small factual question I look to answer is, "What is the definition Khachkar and why are there so many monuments commemorating the 1915 genocide called this?"Another question that I have recently decided to answer is whether relations between Turks and Armenians have been recently resolved or if this conflict continues? I also want to learn the reason this rivalry began and truly identify who is at fault. I look forward to researching this project mostly because my background is both Armenian and Assyrian, two races oppressed against during the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Dinesh D'Souza: What's So Great about Christianity?

I read an interview conducted by Albert Mohler with Dinesh D'Souzawith about D'Souza's book: What's So Great About Christianity? In this interview Dinesh talks about his reasoning for writing this novel and what he considers militant atheists. I liked what Dinesh had to say because he seems special compared to other argumentative authors. Dinesh has been a secular writer for fifteen years. One quote of his that I find particularly interesting is, "I felt that something new is happening today. That is, we’re seeing for the first time atheism become a serious option for people and particularly for young people." I definitely think that this statement is true and that more and more kids my age and younger are becoming atheist. I have heard that during my parents generation children did not choose their religion and were often forced to fit into their parents mold. I, unlike the large majority of my friends, consider myself religious and am not afraid to share my beliefs. This is the main reason why I chose this interview because I am Catholic and I think Christianity is great so I wanted to hear Dinesh's point of view. In his interview Dinesh cites Christopher Hitchens an atheist writer who is considered by D'Souza as both "witty and stylish." Later D'Souza defines new atheism as "clothed in the garb of morality." Another good point that D'Souza makes is that atheism is now becoming more and more popular in pop culture, universities, and sometimes even government. Later he explains,"The atheists have very clearly said that their goal is to go after our children. In other words, they know that they have not won the battle for the current generation, but they are hoping that through the schools, and through the universities, as young Christians come into school, come into college—and remember, as in my case, when I went to college I was a Christian, but the Christianity I learned was very juvenile." I agree with him that atheism is not as popular with my parents and D'Souza's generation, however it is growing more and more popular in my generation. The final point that he makes that I find particularly interesting is he says, "But the Christianity I learned was ultimately a Christianity of habit. It was not a thoughtful Christianity." I think that this is a large problem in the Christian community and it will soon create even larger problems in the following years. The church is extremely low on priests and more and more kids are refusing to go to church. Not only are less kids attending, the ones attending are often forced to be there and don't geninuely believe what they are being taught. I believe that this may lead to a long slow demise of the Catholic Church.

Holocaust: Lots and lots of bad yet some good

Today at assembly Rabia talked about her experience of World War II and the Holocaust. I thought that it was lucky that she came to talk while we were studying the Holocaust. One point that she made that I hadn't considered was pondering whether I would have hid Jews from the Nazis during WWII. Would I risk the life of my family to help save the life/lives of others? It is a large risk to take but many Gentiles did during the Holocaust. Not only did many Gentiles hide Jews to help save their lives, but also were kind and helpful towards the Jews unlike the majority of Nazi officers. We witnessed one of these helpers in Maus II when we meet the Hungarian Mancie who helps relay messages between Anja and Vladek. I had never truly thought of the helpful Gentiles during the Holocaust because one usually thinks of the concentration camps or ghettos. It is truly important to recogonize both the good and the bad but to also understand different points of view in each situation. The one thing that I truly took away from her talk was the fact that although lots of bad things were going on during the Holocaust some people went out of there way to help others, these people risked their lifes to uphold their moral and ethical duty.

"Flying their war into history: Women Airforce service pilots"

Women in the early 1940s until the end of the war were a large part in the success of the U.S. army. Although few women actually fought they were essential to the Allies victory not only in the home front but also in the air force. The women did not fight enemies in these fighter planes, however they towed targets, engineered test flights, utility flew, and often were considered ferry pilots. In total, 1,074 women became Women Air Force Service Pilots - WASPs. Although these women never fought in combat their role as ferry pilots greatly altered the dynamics of the war. These women were not flying small planes. The variety of the planes they flew ranged from: P-51s, P-17s, P-38s, and P-47s. They also flew AT-6s, B-17s, and even B-26s. These women also acted as production testers. They would receive the manual for a certain new plane read over this booklet and then immediately went to work. The group that these courageous women worked for was called the AAF (Army Air Force). Many of these women flew thousands and thousands of hours for their country. Other WASPs were used as utility pilots who relocated pieces of equipment and flew other soldiers where they were needed. One of the oddest reasons to incorporate women in the AAF was to convince men that these new planes were safe, seeing that women could fly them. These women were revolutionary for their time and changed the way WWII will be remembered forever. These aren't the only revolutionary women in the United States' history. During WWI women were also asked to step up and help their nation. They helped in a far different way then the WASPs did. The way women during WWI helped was by working in jobs men usually occupied. By doing this the American economy did not diminish and as hard as it may seem regular life somewhat carried on. Although what the women did in the two world wars were somewhat different their goals were the same. These women realized that their nation was in need and that they could help.

Five Pieces of Work about WWII

1) Call of Duty 2 for Xbox
This magnificent video game features level after level of exciting war adventures. The battles are not only located in Eastern Europe, but also North Africa, France, and Italy. One level you even storm the beaches of Normandy of D-Day. It has received great reviews and seems to be some what realistic.
2) Saving Private Ryan
The story of Saving Private Ryan is the story of a family of boys: the Ryan's who joined in the war effort for WWII. On D-Day all four Ryan boy's fight on the beaches of Normandy. Three of the four die. When writing addressing the letter's to the mother of these unfortunate boys, one government worker realizes that their mother will be devastated when she finds out three of her four boys have died. They then decide to discharge the final Private Ryan. This movie features Tom Hanks and won many awards.
3) Band of Brothers
Band of Brothers is a TV show that tells the story of a platoon of paratroopers called Easy Company. We follow their path in WWII and learn story of these courageous men. It has great special effects, good acting, and even some slight humor. Suprisingly, Tom Hanks was the main producer of this TV series. This is one of my favorite pieces of work ever!
4) A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own is placed in the WWII time period where nearly all American men have enlisted in the U.S. army to fight. It's up to the women of the U.S. to keep proffesional baseball alive. This movie is their story. Some of the main characters are Tom Hanks and Rosie O'Donnell.
5)Flags of Our Fathers
To summarize, Flags of Our Fathers is the story of the six men who raised the flag on top Mount Suribachi after defeating the Japanese in a brutal battle. This picture soon becomes an icon and seems to bring the American people hope during the Great Depression. Before this picture was taken the American public had began to lose hope and less war bonds were being bought. After this picture was taken the men who rose the flag on that day in Japan were taken home and used as propaganda.

The Black Market and it's many wonders

During WII the British population had to ration to help in the war effort. Many of these civilians soon got fed up with rationing so they began to shop on the Black Market. The Black Market was the trade of goods in violation of the official regulations created by the British government. The main reason why there was even a need for the Black Market was because the British government decided they needed to ration food in order to help in the war effort. The main foods that were rationed by the government were butter, bacon, sugar, meat, fish, jam, tea, biscuits, breakfast cereal, cheese, eggs, milk, and canned fruit. I couldn't live without they foods. The government claimed they only rationed foods that were unnecessary and that the citizens could still obtain a balanced diet. There is a huge difference between a balanced diet and a regular diet. Once the people became fed up without the rationed food the Black Market was created. Soon after the government discovered this and became disgruntled. They then hired around 900 inspectors to make sure that the statutory orders of the Ministry Food were obeyed by all citizens. If one was caught in the Black Market during the 1930s in England they were subject to fines of up to £500, with or without two years' imprisonment, plus three times the total capital involved in the transaction. I do not believe that the punishment for partaking in the Black Market should be increased because it is justified. You can clearly understand why people would partake in this and their acts are semi-justified. However, I do not believe that they deserve to get off the hook with no punishment. They are clearly breaking the law and still deserve a large punishment. Not only should the customers get punished, but also the retailers. Both people are at fault, yet I believe the retailer deserves the larger punishment. He/she is conducting this misdemeanor and therefore deserve a larger punishment. The retailer has obviously broken the rule himself/herself and also lead to many others breaking the law. Although this is a quite large problem I do not believe the Ministry of Food should hire more employees to find the retailers of the Black Market. The reasoning for rationing in the first place was to safe money to help supply the British army. If the government uses more money to employ, then it's orignial goal will ultimately fail. I hate being the bad guy, but the easiest way for inspectors to find retailers of the Black Market is to act like an innocent civilian who is just looking for some illegal treats and ask around in local bars, restaurants, classes, etc. If the inspector looks around hard enough one will be sure to find a retailer. To conclude, I don't believe that the Black Market is as big of a deal that the government is making it out to be. You can't blame the citizens of the United Kingdom to want royal food.

Japanese Internment Camps: Remind You of ANYTHING?

When people in the U.S. are asked to think about WWII and to bring up images in their mind there are definetly a few popular images. The first may be a picture of Hitler giving a speech to thousands of brainwashed Germans. ---------------------->

Another may be of Uncle Sam wanting you for the U.S. Army. This poster is one of the most famous pieces of propaganda in U.S. history. --------------------------------------------------->

You might even remeber the horrific day December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor.---------->

I too would have pictured these heart wrenching images before I saw and learned about the Japanese internment camps. The picture to the right shows a Japanese internment camp that was created to contain the "evil Japs."---------->

To quickly summarize who were we (the U.S.) fighting in WWII. Hitler right? And what was he doing in Germany? He was taking Jews rounding them up and first putting them in ghettos then moving them to concentration camps where millions of innocent Jews were killed. When I saw this image it truly changed my perspective of the U.S. government during the late 1940s. They were fighting a war against a man who decided that he could oppress and annihilate an entire race. Although Hitler's situation in Germany was far more extreme, the Japanese internment camps were not a soft topic. During WWII the U.S. government relocated around 120,000 Japanese Americans. The ironic thing is that nearly two-thirds of these Japanese Americans were American citizens. This relocation was the largest relocation of any nationality throughout U.S. history. I want to make sure that everyone knows I do not think that this and the situation in Germany at this time are equivalent because they are far from it. However there are a few similarities between the two. In both cases a certain group is targeted as dangerous or impure and are forced to leave there homes. If the war continued and more American land was bombed, it is quite likely that the situation could quickly escalate into one similar to Germany. I may sound like a broken record because I often use the word imagine to get my point across, however I feel that it helps the reader truly understand the situation. Imagine your family getting taken away from your house just because of race. Even if you are an American citizen you rights count for nothing and you are sent away to an internment camp. Some described the living space as ''tar paper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind.' The spartan facilities met international laws, but still left much to be desired." To conclude, I think it is important to think about these Japanese American Internment camps and how they are similar to Nazi Germany. We must also consider how our government controls situations in the future and that it never classifies an entire race as an "Alien race." Finally, although many important events happened during WWII such as Pearl Harbor, D-Day, V-J Day, and others we must also recognize the smaller events because everything played a key role in the entire realm of WWII.

Nuclear Power: Dangerous, Powerful, and Effective

It's hard to know exactly where to start after seeing a video that describes one of the most horrific days in the world's history. Thousands and thousands of people died on that day and thousands and thousands died later from the radiation. Imagine if all of a sudden a bomb hit Menlo Park, Atherton, San Carlos, Redwood City, Burligame, and San Mateo all at the same time. Imagine the majority of your friends dead. Not being able to go back to school because not only are the majority of your teachers dead but also your school has been flattened. It is important to understand our nation's past struggles and also the struggles of other nations. It is hard to believe that our government decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Truman had to have realized that he would change the world forever with the decision to drop the bomb. He had to have realized that thousands of people would die. Thousands of innocent civilians. Many people during this time would greatly disagree with my opinion. At the time people celebrated this day and this day lead to what was known as V-J Day (Victory of Japan). I discussed this topic with my great uncle E.G. "Bud" Siemon. He said that in his town there was great celebration when news came in of the bomb dropping. I think that NBC decided to air this piece in 1995 simply because early in our history we were proud of this moment. It was only until later that we began to notice the harm that the bomb truly did. Not only did it kill thousands on impact, yet it continues to eat away at innocent Japanese civilians. The U.S. felt that they needed to end the war abruptly and also that they still needed to get revenge after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Not only did the U.S. harm the Japanese in Japan but they also harmed the American Japanese in the creation of the Japanese internment camps. These camps were also known as "War Relocation Camps" and their main purpose was to move all Japanese men, women, and children into camps because many believed after Pearl Harbor that the Japanese were trying to completely take over the west coast. Later President Ronald Reagan rid these horrible camps and apologized for the nation. It seems like this movie is almost like a small version of what Reagan did. Now after sixty-four years it seems like we finally have been able to understand the true dangers of the nuclear bomb and the affects it has on the human body. To me it seems as if there is two distinct perspectives of WII. The people that lived during this time may still believe that the U.S. did the right thing seeing that the bomb did end the war. The other perspective is of the people born after or during the war who sympathize with the victims of the brutal nuclear bomb. I hope that as a nation we have learned the true power of the nuclear bomb and think long and hard before we decide to use another one.

Same as before: Boring but effective

I believe that the way the textbook sets up the history of WWII and the Holocaust works well, however the writing style often bores me. I love to learn about history, yet this book often puts me to sleep. The information is valid, yet I would rather swallow a nail then read from the textbook. The way they spilt up the information makes sense to me. They begin the chapter by explaining fascism and totalitarian state. After this it describes the Nazi Germans and discusses Hitler's life. It is slowly setting us up for WWII. This is where I believe the text goes in the wrong direction. After explaining Japan, U.S.S.R., and Italy the book goes straight into the thick and thin of the war. If I wrote a textbook I would instead explain the New Order of Germany, the Holocaust, the S.S., and the death camps. I also would have described the New Order in Asia and perhaps the homefront. This would give the reader more of a backdrop for the times and would help the reader better understand the war to follow. If I were to name the chapter I would name it, "New Orders, Oppressive Leaders, and another World War." I believe this title encompasses the main ideas of the chapter and is also quite catchy.

My Family in WWII

When first given this assignment I assumed that I had no connection at all to WWII. I thought to myself there is no way my boring family has any interesting history at all. Turns out for once I was wrong. (sarcasm) I called my grandmother Marjorie Siemon, now known as Mama Midge. My family didn't follow the norms of many other families of this time. When I asked my grandmother why her fiancee and brother went to war she simply said, "To get the bad guys." It seemed to me that they were not very informed and that they simply wanted to spill Japanese blood to get revenge for Pearl Harbor. My grandmother's fiancee, my grandfather to be, enlisted as a fighter pilot. He joined the Thunderbirds for one sole reason, they were the only fighter plane that could drop bombs. (This information may be incorrect my grandmother is old and doesn't quite remember all the details.) Mama Midge moved from Chicago, Illinois to California to wait for her fiancee to return home. It turns out that he had already been shot down before she had even left for California. Mama Midge dropped out of college to live in California for her lover. The one thing that she most vividly remembered was the dances designed for the soldiers. She remembers going to them in Chicago and having a great time. I am also good friends with her brother who enlisted. His name is E.G. "Bud" Siemon. Bud tried to enlist at age 14, however his parents would not sign his enlistment papers and forced him to graduate high school. At 17 he enlisted in the Navy Airforce. He trained a few weeks until he was told that the Navy Airforce had too many pilots and that they did not need his services. Then he joined the Army Airforce to try to fulfill his dream of flying for his country. The Army Airforce required all of their pilots to have one year of college so Bud went off to school. After he finished his year of schooling he tried once again to become a pilot. When he returned to the Army Airforce they had shut down their doors to new pilots and gave their pilots in training three choices: discharge, to join the infantry, or to join the ground crew. He decided to discharge and was never able to fight the Japanese. He told me that the reason he enlisted was not because of Hitler, but because of his hatred of the Japanese. After Pearl Harbor he always wanted to get back at the Japanese. He told me that he can vividly remember V-J Day and the celebrations that went on when the war in the Pacific was finally over. I am glad that I didn't assume that I was not connected to WWII because now I feel connected to my past and I feel apart of American history.

Boring but somewhat Effective

My initial reaction to the Wave experiment was that the acting was probably the worst showcase of talent that has ever been recorded. Because of this it was hard to concentrate and it was difficult to truly understand the point of the experiment. However, when the entire class is chanting the phrases, "Strength through community, strength through discipline, strength through action" it is hard not to be chilled by seeing such disturbing classroom behavior. Another point that I think is important to recognize is the fact that this group began to grow so quickly and the fact that people outside of the class did not ridicule it, yet they joined it. Truthfully, I believe that this scenario would be a likely failure at Menlo. Menlo parents, teachers, and administrators encourage my classmates and I to create our own thoughts and this idea of a class with a symbol and a salute would soon crumble. I do understand how if the entire class began to join into the experiment and if a respected teacher told us to partake in this group many people would likely join. The main difference I would expect with Menlo students is that they would be able to draw the line unlike these mid 1980s kids could not. The thing that is the scariest to me is that the Wave was a way out for insecure students such as Robert. We can truly see their commitment to the Wave when Robert says, "For the first time in my life I feel like I am a part of something great!" Then one of his fellow female classmates said, "This is like being born again." Both of those statements are deep from within and are very meaningful. To conclude, I will create an obvious connection between Adolf Hitler and Mr. Ross. They both are great public speakers and sometimes a good speech can convince anyone. Both Hitler and Mr. Ross often used the words change and hope to stir up the general public to gather more followers. I hope that our society has moved far enough along to avoid something like this from happening again.

Appeasement

Now that I have learned the concept of appeasement I realize that I do not use this concept often in my life. This may be one of my many, many weaknesses. I am often wound up too tight and rarely let anything slide. This leads to the loss and destruction of many friendships. I also never appease any school work. I always do every homework assignment no matter how pointless they are. I have been given such a good opprotunity to go to such a great school, why waste it. The only time I appease people is in sports and in relationships (with women). In sports I often allow the opponent some appeasement so that he will be able to survive my wrath. In relationships (with women) one must appease the opposite sex if they want to have a successful relationship. I wasn't informed this in a my last relationship and the relationship quickly ended because both my partner and I often butted heads about time management, PDA, and other things of that nature. I think that appeasement is a very confusing thing that needs to be greatly considered while in any relationship. It is different in every situation and a formula cannot be used to understand it's importance.

After rethinking the term appeasement I believe that an example in my life where I am appeased is when I want to attend a party and at first my mom does not want me to go. Then after persuasion she will let me go, however I will need to come home by ten o'clock although the party ends much later. So my mother appeases me to go the party, yet I will need to leave it early.

The Only Dead Man Still Feared

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. He killed himself only 56 years later. In those 56 years on this green earth he changed history forever. His spot in history will be tainted forever. Before moving to Germany, Hiter was an artist. He moved to Germany in 1913 and after being in WWI, he joined the National Socialist (Nazi) Party. He was appointed chancellor in 1933 and became complete dicatator the following year. He then began to radically change Germany by creating ghettos and concentration camps. After it was all said and done, Hitler and his Nazi Party had killed nearly six million Jews. Many ask what sparked Hitler to do such brutal and disgusting things. We have a few pieces of evidence to help us understand this sick and vile man. These reasons were represented in the article I read in Time Magazine titled Adolf Hitler. The author, Elie Wiesel, explained, "We think we know everything about the nefarious forces that shaped his destiny: his unhappy childhood, his frustrated adolescence; his artistic disappointments; his wound received on the front during World War I; his taste for spectacle, his constant disdain for social and military aristocracies; his relationship with Eva Braun, who adored him; the cult of the very death he feared; his lack of scruples with regard to his former comrades of the SA, whom he had assassinated in 1934; his endless hatred of Jews, whose survival enraged him--each and every phase of his official and private life has found its chroniclers, its biographers." All of these reasons are given to sympathize with Hitler. Well I don't buy it for one second. Everyone has problems. There is not one person in this world who is perfectly content. He is the worst man ever to live. He ended six million innocent lives. He felt Jews didn't deserve to live. He felt that Jews were not human. This concept is represented in the begining of Maus when the author displays for us, "The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but theey are not human." For this exact reason, Art Spiegelman depictes all Jews as mice and all German as cats. In the article I read the author also discusses Hitler's sucess and how compared to other leaders in his time such as Mussolini and Franco; Hitler was far more sucessful. He was able to convert an entire nation: economically, judicially, educationally, and industrially. Sadly, not only was Hitler crazy, however he also was smart. He used his intelligence to gain power of Germany and later Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic countries. Others ask how so many people were fooled and tricked by Hitler's propaganda tricks and why so many people let what was going on happened. And the answer to this is that many people were fooled with his false sense of hope, others were scared away by the S.S. and gustapo, and finally some tried to stop all of this but their attempts were too feeble to affect the Fuhrer. The main point that I think is important for everyone to understand is that Hitler was a paranoid who when received power ran with it a lot farther than any sane person would. The sad thing is that Hitler knew what to do with this power and how to convert non-believers. His main tactics were hope and fear. The scariest thing is that not only do I and many others still fear Hitler but I believe our world has not moved on from this horrific event. A perfect example of our modern day Hitler is Obama. He has used what I believe is false hope to win over our country and also instilled fear in our citizens of what republicans would do if elected. I am not completely against Obama, however I think he may be leading us down the wrong path as a nation. I know that Obama will not do anything like Hitler did I just hope he doesn't do anything to ruin his spot in history like Hitler did.

The Price of Going to Class

Imagine your daily routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, take the train, get to school, complain about work, go to lunch, play lacrosse, go home, eat dinner, do homework, and go to sleep. We often complain about how horrible our lives are until we consider the lives of others. Specifically, we read an article about girls in Afghanistan who were told not to come back to school, but returned anyways because of their desire to learn. 11 girls and 4 teachers were attacked by 10 Taliban militants who were employed to throw acid on the faces of these courageous women. Can you imagine going to school and being brutally attacked? These men, The Taliban, are afraid of young women learning to read and write. Shamsia Husseini said, being brutally attacked by the Taliban and receiving many scars, "The people who did this to me don't want women to be educated. They want us to be stupid things." I don't understand how anyone could be so brutal and vile. The Taliban are some of the most powerful men in Afghanistan and they are afraid of young women. What would our society be like without women and allowing them to get an education? Education has come a long way in the U.S. but it also faced hardships along the way. Including mandatory public education, integration of women in education, and finally the integration of blacks and whites in school during the Civil Rights Movement. I believe that the Afghanistan government needs to rid the Taliban from their beautiful country. They are corrupting the education for women and bringing violence to the country side. This situation reminds me a lot of the one in Germany in the early 1930's. After Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the Nazi party was now the official party of Germany. History teachers often ask, "Why even study history?" And one of the main responses is that we need to learn from our past mistakes. And I believe that this point relates to the current situation in Afghanistan and even Darfur. In the past there have been brutal homicides such as the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. Other governments should step in and rid the Taliban once and for all. During the Holocaust the U.S. knew what was going on in Germany and didn't step in while millions of Jews were being slaughtered. When they finally decided to join in the war effort it was too late; the damage had already been done. Now it may only be schoolgirls and teachers, however the Taliban could spread and there presence could affect the entire world.