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.