Insane or Just Evil?

This article delves into the medical state of Adolf Hitler throughout his entire life. It brings up quite a few controversial points, however chief among them is whether Hitler was truly evil or whether he was just so insane and paranoid from his various medical disorders that he could not make any logical decisions. The article explains a large number of the diseases and disabilities that Hitler suffered from including hypertension, headaches, heart problems, vision problems, bladder infections, and much more. The question that this brings up though is, were these the true reasons for Hitler’s evil actions? The author of the article does not extend his specific point of view on the subject, however based on the medical evidence presented and what points he chooses to elaborate on, he seems to believe that these diseases played a part in Hitler’s decision making, however when it came down to it the only person at fault was Hitler himself. I share the author’s point of view on this subject, because based on the wide range of diseases that Hitler was afflicted by, he would obviously make rash decisions. Even in the article it says, “Hitler believes that his father was half-Jewish and had died of syphilis.” This in itself may have affected Hitler’s classification of syphilis as a Jewish disease. However, I do not think that these diseases can in any way be used as an excuse for Hitler’s behavior and decisions that he made during his life. So was he insane or just pure evil? I would have to say both.

The Price of Going to Class

For most students where we live, the thoughts that you have when you get up on a Monday and have to go to school are probably not ones of excitement. However, in Afghanistan girls are eager to go to school, to have the opportunity to be educated. Even after being sprayed in the face with acid by Taliban members, they still want to go back to school as soon as possible so they do not miss out on their education, however the fear of attack still remains. When the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 1996, they banned most sources of entertainment including TV and music. Girls were forbidden to go to school and women were forced to wear burkas. When the Taliban regrouped in 2003 they began targetting schools. The question is, can we consider the Taliban fascist? Lets compare the Taliban to Nazi Germany. A certain extremist group rising up and taking power through manipulation of the general population. Having their ideals enforced through constant fear of punishment. The forcing of women to work at home and girls to not go to school is extremely similar to when the Nazi's made Jews wear the Star of David and did not allow them to own businesses. So can we consider what is going on in Swat Valley to be Fascist? Yes, there is no doubt about it.

Healthcare in Kenya

While looking at the fact sheet for Kenya, I noticed that the life expectancy for males is 51 and for females is 50 years old. These numbers may seem low to us in the US, where the life expectancy is roughly 75 years, however on the fact sheet it seems as though these numbers are slightly higher than the average life expectancy in the whole WHO region. Another interesting thing that I noticed was that the probability of dying for adults was significantly lower in Kenya than the WHO African region for males, but also significantly higher for females. Kenya also has double the percent of HIV caused deaths than the average, however its HIV prevelance among adults is lower than the average. This may say something about their health care system compared to other African countries. The TB prevalence and incidence is also almost double in Kenya compared to the other countries. The strange thing is that Kenya has almost a 20% increased access more than the rest of the WHO African region, which makes me think that there may be another reason for the increased prevelance rate of many of the diseases.

Rosie the Riveter

In World War I and World War II, the roles of women stayed pretty much the same, however they were portrayed differently. In both wars they helped contribute to the war effort by working in factories, as nurses, etc. However, all of this was temporary, only to be in effect while the men were off fighting. When they came back, the women resumed their usual routine. In WWII women who took jobs in factories contributing to the war were seen as patriotic. Rosie the Riveter was a good example of this. This poster was propoganda for women, encouraging them to go work in factories and even some new jobs. The poster of Rosie the Riveter is now seen as the beginning of women's rights, while in WWI their rights were very limited.

Decision to Drop the A-Bomb

The reason that this video was released by NBC was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of dropping of the atomic bomb. However, it was also an attempt to educate people on the horrible effects that the bomb brought on Japan. They take a lot of time pointing out the amount of casualties in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and also describing what radiation poisoning did to the people who were not killed by the initial blast. More than half of the people in Hiroshima died a painfully extended death by radiation poisoning. However, Americans at the time were unaware of this and only knew that the Japanese had surrendered, so they were celebrating. It seemed to me as if the video was trying to get the viewer to question their beliefs on the decision to drop the bomb, what with all of the personal interviews with the survivors about how their life was changed by the bomb and what they had to go through after the bomb was dropped. Was dropping the bomb the best choice? Probably not. But it was necessary to end a war that would have probably taken more lives if it had not been used.

World War II Pop Culture

Movies:

Saving Private Ryan
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pearl Harbor
Midway
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Patton
The Great Escape
A Bridge Too Far
The Longest Day

Books:

A Separate Peace

Carpoolng to School

In the Taliban run Swat valley, today many girl will not be walking to school. We hear about the courage of the young girls who will walk for hours just to get an education. The barriers of fascism and religion tat have barred women in that part of the world from learning for so many years is finally being threatened. Unfortunately however, the Taliban extremists are jeopardizing all of the work that the brave girls and other people in the community have worked towards. With threats of murder, rape, and kidnapping and with no government to intervene, it is unimaginable what those poor girls have to go through. With no resolution in sight we will have to hold our breath and pray that the determination of some of the bravest girls in the world will succeed.