Rugby and Apartheid.

Rugby has allowed the nation to Unite as a common goal to achieve the world cup. The president did not just favor the blacks but also the whites. He said that if the whites behaved then the world cup would be held in south africa. So they did behave. Also the blacks were happy to be freed from apartheid. Also the president wore the old team cap and jersey. This told the blacks that it was alright to support and be friends with the whites. This also gained support of the whites because it was one of the last things they had to keep. It told the whites that it would not be segregation against the whites. Also the black player I think really brought a black appreciation for the team. I think that sports is a good way for the nation to achieve apartheid becuase every body plays. It does not just concern one race. Both races played it and enjoyed watching the sport. So the sport took both sides to bring the Rugby World Cup to them.

May: Current Event 3: Open letter to pope urges end to celibacy

A letter has been written to the pope to end celibacy, which is the law that forbids a priest to get married. Three women signed the letter but 40 women helped to write it. They say that they have either had a special realtionship with a priest or have had an affair with them. They think that it is a new time and calls to be revised. But the church allows a deacon to get married.

this has world importance because Catholacism is a very large world religion. it could change the entire religion. If this changes then the church might get more lenient about other things and the church might be changed for ever.

May Current Event #2:North Korea warns it will meet war with 'all-out war'

South Korea exercised an anti submarine drill on Thursday. North Korea said that they will go into an all out war and meet confrontation with confrontation. Lately North Korea has sunk a Korean Warship and killing 46 sailors.



This has world importance because it could potentially create a world war three. America would need to get involved, I'm sure Japan would be involved and so would Iran and all other democratic nations. North Korea might even drop a bomb, wiping out an entire nation. A war would also kill many people ruining lives and such.

May Current Event #3: Israel, Gaza flotilla sponsors blame each other for violence on ship

Israel claims that they were only defending themselves last Monday. They shot 9 activists on a ship in international waters which was carrying humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip. A person on the boat disagrees with their story. The prime minister of Israel says that the policy to allow all humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip was canceled. He says that Gaza has become a base for Hamas terrorists. 5 of the 6 ships allowed israeli soldiers to search their ships but the 6th began beating the soldiers.

This has world importance because it shows that Israel, even though were attacked, can not defeat the world media and were blaimed for the attack. It also shows that Israel is not comming to a peaceful agreement with Palestinians.

Response to Berlin Conference

I thought that our groups performance was quite good. We got a number of ports with only two squares so I thought that we were overall successful with our mission in that that's what we wanted. But we did not get too many natural resources, but we did get some. And the territory that we grabbed to the south east was pretty much where the Portuguese grabbed in real life.

I think that Italy lost because of their invasion of Ethiopia. They lost this important battle after being told not to attack. Dan's group came second to last because they just took land surrounding a major port and resources and did not really do any thing. But they did take the entrance to the Nile. The next loosing group was Kim Ho's group. I say this because they took a bunch of scattered major ports and did not think about having to rule all these scattered countries. It was a nice thought about getting all the major ports but it would never been able to be ruled. Peter and Christian's group did all right. They got good resources in the middle of the country and did what they had to. I forget what Tom's group did but I suspect that it had some flaws to it compared to ours. I, being Portugal, think we won. We did not scatter our territories and yet got many major ports and some resources. We claimed a port on Madagascar and four on the main land.

In this game, like in real life, we did not think think about the natives and include them in this decision. We only looked at resources and major ports. i think that the effects of this conference were great on the African nations. It tore apart their culture and also brought a lot of violence to the Africans. it has caused hatred toward Europeans and the United States. The effects are still occuring today. The nations are corrupt and unstable. The governments are violent to their people and against other nations.

African Folktales.

The Shark and the Monkey

In this story the shark and the monkey become friends after sharing gruit. The shark invites the monkey to his cave. On the way he told the monkey that he was taking him to the sultans cave because he needed a monkey heart to live. The monkey told the shark that he left his heart in the tree. They go back and the monkey goes into his tree and never comes back. I thought this story meant that one can never trust what comes from the ocean. In most cases this was the europeans coming from boats.

April Current Events 3: Belgium's lower house votes to ban burqa

Th lower house of Belgium has approved a ban on the burqa and other Islamic garments that guard a womens face, but the upper house still must approve it. No member of the Chamber of Deputies disapproved it. There were only two abstentions. Human rights groups disaproved of the act. The leaders of Belgium believe that is not required by Islam to wear these garments and also the majority of Muslim's of Europe and Belgium do not believe in wearing the burqa or the niqab. They estimate only 300-400 people wear them in the country. Some predict this move will provoke more to wear the veil.

This is of world importance because it is an intense topic debated in many counrties. Also this may lead other nations to do the same. I think that this move will help stop terrorist attacks. Women wear these with a bomb strapped to them. If no women can wear these than the attacks can not happen. It will help promote a safer world. But nations like ours can not allow this regulation because we are a free nation with freedom of expression and religion. If someone wants to express they are Muslim by wearing this than they can.

churches at Lalibela

The churches at Lalibela are considered to be one of the World's wonders. There are two groups of churches and they were excavated and had many under ground tunnels an passageways. The churches are claimed to be built by king lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty. The style of the churches are very similar to archetecture of ancient Aksum. This gives reason to believe that there are churches much older than these. The churches are thought to be a new Jeruselum.

Blacj Pharoahs

Kush, a black African empire competed with Egypt in the Ancient world. Their capital was the third cataract of the Nile. Here they controled the trade going between central Africa and Egypt. The Egyptians who had not a lot of natural resources need resources from the south. The Egyptians felt threatened and attacked and conquered Egypt. in 730 B.C. the Kush army took over all of Egypt, making the Black Pharoahs. They brought a rennaisance to Egypt.

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Ethiopia has had the church play a very large role in it ever since the Zagwe dynasty was removed and a descendant from King Solomon became king. In 1974 the dynasty was revolted against. He brought the custom of priesthood being passed down from father to son into the region. The Solominod Empire brought Ethiopia into the christian empire. Zara Yocab used holymen that knew magic to spread Christianity.

Do Now 4/29/10

One thing that comes to my mind is imperialism. The European countries that conquered Africa and left suddenly cause many of the problems that occur today. One of these things is unstable government. The countries left without instituting a government consisting of African leaders. When the Europeans were present European leaders controled the government. When they left, they left the Africans without government and in great turmoil. Also another problem that western countries provided was the poverty their today. They used up the resources and left. For example, they gathered lots of minerals and caused the farmers to share crop. After many generations of share cropping farmers loose the knowledge to grow food that will sustain a culture, those that are not only used in trade. Also, the land is depleted of it's minerals that allow for good crops.

Obsession

Section 1: They have suicide bombers and they attack their own people and the rest of the world. There have been attacks all around the world. 10% of all the Islams are radicals and more hate westerns. Why do the people living in the Middle Eastern countries involved n this conflict rise against the terrorists. I know that they strike incredible fear into their people but for every one terrorist there is nine non terrorist Islams. After seeing this section and the way they raise their youth to hate American's I am amazed that people of the United States and United Nations can not support our decision to enter the Middle East. Also if all these other countries have been attacked by Al -Queda and Osama bin Laden, why are we the only ones in the Middle East and Iran? If every nation entered Iran we could find Osama bin Laden much faster.

Section 2: The Jihad is a war for Allah the Islamic god and westerners must die. They teach this to the young people of Islam. They reach that Americans are trying to take over the world. The people of Islam believe that Jihad is a battle for God.

Sections 3: In Arab media they portray Americans and Jews as Satan and evil. People after 9/11 came to look at themselves and American's fault that the Arabs hate us. But it was not true and it is only the Arabs mind set. They use propoganda to spread the terrorist idea. many of the music is against the Americans and they celebrated on the streets when 9/11 happened.

Section 4: On the streets they say U.K. you will pay and their leaders openly say that they will destroy Americans and Jews and Brits. The high jackers were praised and called the magnificant 19. The Muslims and kill and sell Americans according to some leaders. The Jihad have soldiers all over the World, in Britain and such. The terrorists use our democracy against us and come into our country and train themselves to blow up the towers on our soil.

Section 7: Its amazing how similiar the Jihad is to Hitler's war. The way they use propoganda is the same and also the goal is similiar. They want to take over the world and destro an entire culture. Also they attract the youth and I think that the Jihad is like Hitler's underground army. They also use lies like the Jews need blood for Matza just as Hitler said lies about the Jews.

Section 8: I guess they got their ideas from Hitler because the Muslim's were very close to Hitler. i think that maybe Husseini brought his propoganda strategies back with him. Also the Middle Eastern people must have believed Hitler as well as their leaders because the soldiers fought with the S.S. Amy.

Section 9: When the Muslims are destroying Churches they actually are going against Muhommad.

Section 10: I think that they are exactly correct about how we need to support the non radicals as much as possible. To put them into power. I think that if we do exactly as we did in Afghanistan by empowering a Democracy then the terrorists will have no where to run. If all people gave up fear of the terrorists to fight them to expell them from this world.

April Current Events: First Iraqi flight to London in 20 years lands at Gatwick

The first airplane to fly from Iraq to London landed on Friday and left on Monday. No admittance was allowed in London because of Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The flight was full of commercial passengers and ministry officials.

This event has global importance because after many years of American work in Iraq they are opening up to Western countries and Western countries are making relations with them. If american work in the Middle East pays off like this than most of the countries like Afghanistan will become western and lower oil costs. This would lower the United States economic depts.

April Current Events: U.S.: N. Korean torpedo likely sunk warship

A South Korean warship was sunk most likely by North Korean Torpedo's. The United States believes that the ship was sunk by an underwater explosion but the explosive device did not hit the ships hull. The attack happened last month.

This has global importance because this could end the armistice between North and South Korea. If this were to happen then the United States would have to open on another front. Also Britain and many other nations would have to get involved. And becuase North Korea may or may not have nuclear weapons a nuclear war may occur. They could drop the big one on South Korea killing thousand and millions of people.

Do Now 4/22/10

Do you think that the U.S. can win its war in Afghanistan?
- I do not believe that the United States can win its war in Afghanistan. I think this becuase it is impossible to find Osama Bin Laden. We were right on top of him and yet we still did not find him. He is hidden in the mountains which can not be bombed. If we do catch Osama bin Laden or he dies than someone else will replace him and continue to spread their terror. Our government, the strongest in the world have been in a war searching for him for over 8 years. If we have not found him yet I do not think we will find him. But I do not think that we should pull out. We need to find Osama bin Laden to bring safety to the United States. If we pulled out the Taliaban would take over and attacks America.

Adam Smith

I do agree with the author. I do but I would also add the idea of spreading democracy and uninstalling a dictatorship. I agree with his first point about oil becasue Iraq is the number two leader in oil production. If we could gain a good relationship with them by creating a democracy we could gain easier access to cheap oil. I think that his second topic about protecting Israel is true as well because we are currently trying to set up military bases in Iraq. Israel would have another western allie in the MIddle East to ease the tension between other nations and the Palestinians. His third idea I disagree with. I do not think that the US would enter Iraq only to prove our power. I think that we have already shown our power in our economy and there is no further need of it.

A Dangerous Mix of Water and Oil

I think that the World should be concerned about water in the Middle East because it can cause a lot of conflict and many countries are arguing over water ways. Like turkey has set up dams and such things. This has major effects on the water down stream in the water choked middle east. Also water is essential in many buissnesses such as oil. And many people are dying from lack of water. Forexample the number of babies that have died form darhea had equalled the number of deaths in WWII. The U.S. should have a concern about water because it will reaise the price of oil which will raise the price of everthing else causing a huge change in the economy. the Middle Easty will raise the price of their oil because they need oil to dig for petroleum.

Ending Americas dependancy on oil.

I think that the way to end this is to slowly change to energy effiscent battery cars. I think this because it will lessen our oil usage. They run for 20-40 miles on battery and then switch to oil. I thyink this can't be our total solution though becuase we still will eventually run out of oil. When we do run out of oil I think that we should resort to horse back. Horses can go unusual distances and consume only reusable resources. But I think this idea would be unreliable for military uses and we should tap into our Alsakan oil for their usage only. I think that they would be using this and every other nation would have usd their oil resources.

Interview of Conflict

I think that the most interesting person in this video was Julia. She was a high school Israeli student. Julia was in a organization called the Seeds of Peace Organization. They have schools in Jeruselum that teach both Israelis and Palestinians to build the relationship between the two groups. She helps with them. Then her friends are on a bus and it blows up killing them. She is very distressed about the whole thing because she fells as though peace can not be achieved. This mindset is changed when she talks to her palestinian friend. Julia rides a bus herself and is very frightend. She looks around for suspicious people. She makes it back safe.

The Israelis and Palestinians have a much worse living than us. They have so much fear of just going on a bus and walking down the street but we can do what ever without fear. But do yuo think that the people in Philadelphia and New York live in this constant fear? People are dieing just as easily as them and it s dangerous at night in the bad parts.

Purported Bin Laden message hints at retaliation (Current Event Three)

The United states has made the decision of executing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who was the "mastermind" of the 9/11 attacks. Osama Bin Laden sent the United States government that if we do this than any American Soldier that is captured will be executed. He has also claimed more attacks like the Christmas bombings will occur.

This is of global importance because it may cause us to be attacked again and many more times. Also in the middle east all of our captured soldiers will be killed. it increases the tension between the Americans and Al Qaeda. We may send more troops into the Middle East to put down the taliban.

Taliban fighters training in Iran, U.S. officials say (Current Event two)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/23/iran.taliban/index.html?npt=NP1

U.S. officials say that Iran is helping train Taliban soldiers. It is unknown if the training is taking place under Tehran or the government. Iran has been suppling the Taliban with ammunition and weapons. The Iranian official at the United Nations says these assumptions are wrong and are of no support of the Islamic Republic of Iran. the Defense Secretary who has been to Afghanistan says if there is any training it is at a very low level. Bruce Reidel says that the Iranians are masters of makeshift bombs and are trying to pass their knowledge to the Taliban.

This is of global importance because the Taliban have been in a war with the Americans in Afghanistan and if Iran is suppling them with weapons and knowledge than we will have to invade them as well.

Israeli security forces seal off West Bank (Current Event One)

The Israeli government has stopped the passage across the West Bank borders from Sunday to Tuesday April 6th. They have stopped the passage during the passover holiday. Religious workers, students and teachers were allowed to leave Judea and Samaria. The Friday before a fighting broke out in southern Gaza. Also the week before another fight broke out between Israel forces and the Palestinians. The Palestinians of Gaza Strip have increased their rocket fire into Southern Israel.

This has global importance because it means that the relations between Palestinians and Israelis is still not very good. This also causes and increase intension between Israel and the surrounding nations who support Palestine. When the Israelis are on bad terms with the other nations so are all the other Western nations of the World.

Treaty from the Arab Palestians view

Adam Smith (Arab Palestinians) Treaty
In our treaty I will propose a state in which there will be a new independent state of Palestine. I will have the Israelis move to the south and have the Palestinians live from the territory of West Bank to the northern half of Jerusalem to the northern tip of the Dead Sea (60% Palestinian to 40% Israel). Those who don’t wish to move will not be forced to but will suffer persecution. All the Palestinians who are refugees along the border of Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria will not need to move much because the new state of Palestine will be controlling the majority of those borders. They will be allowed to live in Palestine and will be given government support until capable of living on their own, which will be determined by the Palestinians, and funded by both of the new states. Jerusalem will be divided between both states. All of the Israelis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will not be forced to leave but our government will not stop any persecution against them. The new Palestinian state will be allowed to have an army. The United Nations will take no part in our happenings and doings. They will cause greater tension between both states and the rest of the Middle East. They do not live here and do not know what is best for the two countries. If an outbreak were to occur between the two countries, both armies will get involved to put down the uprising. The Palestinian state will call for an election. The Israelis will also hold an election.
I think that my plan will work because it is fairly equal. We give the Israelis part of every body of water. The Israelis do not receive as much, but the Palestinians do not receive any of the Sinai Peninsula. Jerusalem is shared equally. Also there is not much moving to be done except by the Israelis, but if they want their own land then they will have to move, but nobody is forced to move. Israel and Palestine work together, at least to put down the uprisings. The U.N. will not get involved so no more western influence will be brought into the Middle East to show our support of the surrounding nations.

The Veils

I think that the veils should be permitted. I think that the mojority of muslims are not terrorists and will not try to bomb anybody. The koran says that women should wear the veil and cover their body. This is clearly not against women rights because women have equal rights as men and have for thousands of years.

Not a Clash of Religions

Write two paragraphs explaining your opinion. Use evidence from the article and your own experience.Do you believe the journalist is right in his claim?Do you think Osama Bin Laden is justified, based on the claims in this article?

I do think that the journalist is correct in his belief. The Islamist's have created a "new" sixth pillar. It states that the Islamist should suffer and fight for their religion. The first pillar states to only believe in one God. They are extremely dedicated to their religion and believe that by allowing for other religions than the three true religions we are defying both the first and sixth pillar of faith. And when we promote secularism in the Middle East we are impeding our unholiness upon our Islamist brothers.

I think that Osama Bin Ladan is justified by this article. I say this because from this point of view one is given the thought that he is simply defending the religion and way of life for his people. One will do anything for his religion even kill if it promises his eternal after life. The article also says that Muhammud destroying the Kaaba his similiar to the destruction of the twin towers. So this article defends Osama Bin Ladan with the reason of simply following and defending his religion.

Comparing Religious Claims.

I think that the Muslims deserve the Holy Lands. I think this because...
The Jews left the Holy lands several times.
The Jews were not there when the Muslims arrived.
It was the place where Muhammad died and rose into heaven.

Current Events February

Drone strike kills son of militant linked to Taliban, al Qaeda

The son of a Taliban leader was killed by a U.S. drone the other day. Three other Taliban members were killed in the strike. The killings were confirmed by a Taliban member. he was a commander in the Haqqani Network, a militant group located in Pakistan and has been accused of attacking the US and international forces in Afghanistan.

This is of World importance because it only increases the tension between the Middle East and western cultures. It will only cause more attacks to the US forces and possibly directly to the US counrty and western influences in the Middle East.

Current Events February

Iran's supreme leader: We do not seek atomic bombs

Iran's supreme leader says the Islamic Republic does not want nuclear bombs. He says that they can cause genocide and are forbidden and considered to be religiously banned. Iran says that the use will be strictly for civilian energy and medical uses. But Iran has been producing enough uranium to cause a nuclear reaction.

This topic is of worldly need because if Iran obtains nuclear weapons they may give them to the terrorist group of Hizbullah which will attack Israel. Also the article says that if Iran does get nuclear weapons Israel may be provoked to attack Iran. Also Iran with nuclear weapons may attack Israel themselves. They may attack the U.S. as well. if any of these atttacks occur then a World War Three may start.

Middle East Problem

I think that the largest problem is Muslim extremists. I think this because they take over the government and have major influences on the people of the countries. They believe that Westerners are ungodly and don't deserve to live. If they were not there then there would be no problem.

Do Now 2/22/10

What is the middle east?
- It is the deserted area in south west Asia, north east Africa, and the Eastern area of the Mediterranean.This has been the area of world conflict for thousands of years because it is the origin of many religions including Muslim, Christianity, and Judaism. They all think that they have control over the region due to past treaties.

Mahandas Gandhi

Why was he able to gain independence?
-He related to the people and was not scared of the authorities. He did not only relate to Hindu's, but also Muslim's. Gandhi dressed as a lesser man than he was. This showed the people that he did not only think of himself. He wanted the rich to be equal with the poorer castes of the caste system. The violence the British showed drew more attention to the cause Gandhi was standing for. It also bring about the attention to the British government. Gandhi also went to jail without trial. This encouraged people to be involved in the operation because the people in the audience were angered and were up roared. He has also brought all the people to be non violent and peaceful. gandhi also had other followers and the entire Indian race both Hindu's and Muslim's together to take a beating and to not fight back.

Do you think that Gandhi ever enjoyed his accomplishments? Why or why not?
No I do not think that Gandhi ever enjoyed his accomplishments. I think this because he wanted a united country and he wanted to unite the Muslim's and Hindu's. This was only done for a short period of time while the British were there. So once his work was done it was also undone. The no violence policy Gandhi achieved while fighting for independence was never really achieved.

Do you think that there would still be violence if Gandhi lived today?
No I do not think so because he would find a way to unite the people together. Gandhi would find a way to convince the people to love each other. He would use peace to stop the fighting. That is the problem in this world today. People try to stop violence with violence. We are killing people in Iran and Pakistan, but it only brings more hatred towards the opposing nations. Just like in the movie when the man said he had killed a baby because they had killed his. Gandhi told him that peace would save him. So Gandhi would be doing the opposite of the world today and would bring peace.

Unjust law

I think that the third choice is the best choice. I think this because if we act out against the law congress would listen to our thoughts better. I think this because it would bring more attention to the law. This can be seen when drinking was made illegal. People acted against the law and brought attention and it was amended. The first choice would never work because it would not bring any attention to the unjust law and we would continue to live with the unjust law. The second choice would not work because congress would not take as much consideration into the law.

The State of the Union

I do not think that we have an optimistic future because the main words were people, new year, and Americans. I think if these words were used most then Obama must have been not hitting the issues directly and maybe even avoiding them. He talked about economy and businesses which go hand in hand. But President Obama is thinking the wrong things about business and economy. He thinks that the people who have worked hard to be where they are should not get as many benefits as those who may not try a succeed their best or may have failed. He thinks the rish should be heavily taxed and the less fortunate whould not. This will bring down the number of people who want to try harder and make it harder to be successfull.

These are the right things to be thinking about but Mr. Obama goes about in the wrong way. We do need to gain more money to become a more powerful country.

President Bush's speech was based upon terrorism and protecting the nation's people and security, while Obama's is based upon money and the economy. I think that they are both based on the right topics for the time that they were written. It shows that we have lost money but we have also gained a lot more security which was probably worth the money spent. Bush wasn't very concerned about us being a powerful nation because we already were by far. And with the 9/11 attack it was well needed and because bush put the terrorists under control. Obama only needs to worry about out economy so obviously Bush's work has shown. And with the let up on terrorism we have been attacked more and more lately so I think that Obama needs to worry more about that.