Addicted

The last time I went to a movie theaer, I was not thinking about whether the plot has a deep theme with societal connection. Even after viewing the movie, I judged it base on its plot and not its deeper meanings.
The movie I decided to analyze is "21", 21 is a magic number. It is when people are allowed to drink but better yet go to casino and win some big bucks. The movie "21" is exactly going to casinos, taking audiences to the world's capital of gambling, Las Vegas. In this movie, Ben Campell, a MIT student who has trouble with paying his Harvard medical school tuition decides to join a group of students to play blackjack. They travel to Las Vegas to play the game or better yet count cards, a technique to increase chance to winning the game. Ben enjoyed the short-lived life in Las Vegas winning bundles of money and being whoever he wants in a city where you can be whoever you want. Like every movie, the protagonist encounters a problem. Ben like-wise has to face an obstacle. Ben has long won enough money for his tuition but like most people addicted to the life of gambling, the thrills they seek. One night he lost a tremendous amount of money during and was told by his team leader, Mickey to pay back what he lost. Ben however, thinks that he is the one contributing the most to the team and decides that the team can function without Mickey. Ben with his group decided to stay in Las Vegas but they are now targeted by the security of the casino. In fact, the security has a history with Mickey and "signs" a truce with Ben stating that if he helps trap Mickey then Ben will be let free and allowed to count cards. Through a complex scheme Mickey was trapped but the security still forced Ben to give back what he won leaving him with nothing.
Like the analysis on the scream series, if Maureen had been a better mother, all the tragic events would've never happen. In "21", if Ben had left the team after winning the three-hundred thousand for his tuition he would not had to go through all the drama. Maternal care is lacking in today's society, children growing up with no mother often have issues. Gambling is also an issue in society, it's a dangerous thrill to seek and has led to many people's end leaving them with no money and no house.

Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

I am not a fan of scary movies, and I have not seen any in the Scream or Saw series, but it was still interesting and informative reading about the social commentary in those movies. I was not expecting there to be so many issues addressed by scary movies. I just always thought of those kind of movies as stupid blood-fests with no point or meaning, which is why I never watch them. Perhaps now I'll give them another shot.

Similarly, one can find tons of social commentary in Borat. While it may be clearly evident to some, there are plenty of people who think that Borat is just a crude, stupid movie that makes fun of foreigners. Nothing could be further from the truth. Borat is not making fun of foreigners, it is making fun of Americans. Some may choose to pretend that American society is always politically correct, that bigotry and ignorance do not exist in today's day and age, but this movie brilliantly points out the negative aspects of our culture, the things that nobody talks about out loud because it is common knowledge that they are inappropriate. The movie presents these things in such a way that the audience's first instinct is to laugh at the racism or homophobia of the people interviewed by Borat. Only after, if one chooses to go delve that deep, does the real fact of the matter sink in. Something is wrong with our society when real American citizens, just like you and me, truly have these beliefs. If one chooses to treat Borat as the average crude comedy filled with sexual innuendo and F-bombs, they will miss the point completely.

Jurassic Park - What Happens When We Mess With Genes?

Just as horror movies depict an underlying message within society, science fiction movies depict a certain issue in society. And just as other movies from the past have progressed into the movies that exist today (as far as effects go), the fact that movies contain a key message hasn’t changed.

I analyzed Jurassic Park. The original movie was released in 1993 and the two sequels are fairly recent. Although science fiction isn’t supposed to “scare” the audience, some of the main elements that the movies are comprised of do poke fun of what does scare most people (spiders for example, are made larger than normal).

Jurassic Park is actually supposed to show how genetically altering [the wrong] species can be dangerous to society, especially if the alterations are done for reasons that have no real relevance to benefit society (other than to make profit). Although genetic alterations are solely made to dinosaurs in the movie, the message of genetically altering anything can be derived. And any genetic alterations could lead to harmful effects.

The fact that two sequels were made could relate to the fact that people don’t know when to quit, or for lack of a better word – understand – what is truly harmful to society, and how one small change to a gene could lead to big problems.

Science fiction shares the similar underlying theme that the fiction could become fact. And the science fiction movies may change slightly; as years continue to progress, and that will all be relative to the technology and current status of what is being done in the medical world (to genes).

Although Jurassic Park and the horror movies Scream and Saw have very thin connections, one connection is that both genres adapt to whatever is occurring within society. Horror movies have made a shift, based on the interest within people. According to the article with Saw, peoples’ interests are all about seeing gore and violence. Science fiction movies – like Jurassic Park – are no exception to adding elements of gore and violence to the films.

The only real difference between science fiction and horror films are the killers and ways of being killed. With horror movies, it’s all about people. With science fiction, it’s all about the environment.

Engineers in war!

The question itself says that the mission of the army is to kill as EFECTIVELY as possible. Well, having the engineers calculate what target to hit, where to hit it, how to hit it, will affect the effectiveness of the army. To make a comparison of the WW2 and the Iraq war in terms of technology is impossible. Now, the army has everything they need to minimize the casualties in an attack. Before, they just flew around droping bombs hoping and praying to kill as less civilians as possible. Now, they have many kinds of bombs and missiles with a great accuracy that can hit precisely the target. Now they have the duty to limit the casualties as much as possible. All these changes are hard work of engineers, trying to make the life easier for the army.
Economically talking, a bomb (or missile) costs thousands of dollars. When the army decides to attack a certain objective, it is the engineers’ job to calculate how or where the objective should be hit so no bombs or missiles are wasted.
So, yes, I fully sustain the engineers’ role in today’s army. Effectiveness is a priority to win a war, and engineers bring that everywhere…

The gladiator

Well, there are plenty of movies one can relate to war. Starting from James Bond to Bourne, from Rocky to Die Hard, basically most action movies represent the good – usually small in number but very brave- and the evil – usually big in number and overrated. This is the analogy we can make to war. Every war has a good country and a bad one. One of these movies that always come to my mind is “The Gladiator”. Truly the movie is supposed to show the gladiators in ancient Rome, and the sufferance of a Roman General enslaved by the new emperor. But if you think in a broad way, the Gladiator – played by Russell Crowe – represents a country in war with the evil. And the message is clear: it will always be difficult, but if there is a good reason you are fighting for, even the most impossible things become possible. This is a message one can relate to the war in Iraq. The Gladiator represents the Iraqi people who have suffered so much under the reign of Saddam Hussein, and now have joined the forces with the Americans went there to help them to build their own democratic country. Of course, it won’t be easy, but if they try hard and if they really love their country, it can be done…

Have you forgotten?

In 1924, gas was first used in the Death Penalty in Nevada. I just thought that this was interesting because I am a criminal justice major. I'm sure some people reacted to this because there are people against the death penalty altogether. I think that a lot of people don't really think about the severity of the death penalty. There are a lot of flaws in our system and we could be potentially sending the wrong people to pay through capital punishment. Another thing that happened in 1924 is George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were headed to the top of Mount Everest. They were last seen alive by their teammate Noel Odell. I know that I had forgotten about this but had heard stories about what had happened up there. I'm sure that people of the time had come up with some interesting rumors as to what went on. It probably discouraged other people from going as well. In November of 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female governor in Wyoming. I think that this is an important fact in history because there's always issues of women in the workplace and getting equal opportunity and pay. It has gotten better over the years but some people will still say that men are better than women and deserve more benefits just for being men. Today most people don't know when the first female governor was elected because it's more common now that we don't think about it.

Troops withdrawal

The recent articles on Iraq, “Iraq Can’t Stand on Its Own” from CBS NEWS and “Plan Iraq Withdrawal” from Buffalo News, talk about the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and weather Iraq military troops will be able to do what American troops are doing right now. The first article, talks about how fragile Iraq will be if American troops leave and how Iran might – and certainly will – influence Iraq’s politics and destabilize an entire region. The second article cites an interview of the commander of US troops in Iraq, General Petraeus. He stated that the actual process in Iraq is very fragile and totally reversible. He said that it is true that US troops trained Iraqi troops, but Iraqi lack in logistic systems and leadership. Especially the first is a big problem that will require time, because for the moment Iraqi doesn’t have the money to build a logistic system.
Personally, I think that the Congress should think twice about withdrawing the troops from Iraq. I am not pro war, but I believe that if a country goes to war, needs to accomplish the mission. In this case the mission was to establish the democracy in Iraq and to restore peace among people there. If US troops leave now, they will leave behind a very fragile government with a very fragile army that might be subject to many attacks or influences from other countries. This premature withdraw – in my opinion – would make worthless the lives of thousands of Iraqi people who died there, and would make worthless the lives of American soldiers who died for their country…

Article 1: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/11/opinion/main4009234.shtml
Article 2: http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/321422.html

Tuesday Classes Post

There is a lot that I do not agree with when it comes to our current war in Iraq, but there is not enough daylight for me to examine those. I feel that this war is costing us way to much money, with money being used uselessly, but some is used in a necessary fashion. When it comes to the requirements of estimating a bomb attack, I feel that evrything they do is necessary, regardless of the cost. Back in WWII, everything was so chaotic and such a kill spree, that such an attack was just freely done. Now, if we were to just drop a bomb, killing hundreds or thousands of innocent people, penalties would be returned. For one, the UN may step in a declare it unwarranted and suddenly you have more enemies than just the people you bombed. Also, war is no longer the same. Troops are not huddled together in groups of thousands or standing across from one another to do battle, so it is impossible to wipe out an enemy with one attack. Lastly, I think the most likely reason for not doing a careless attack is the retaliation. Over the past couple of years, our world has endured nuclear terror to the point where some people believed there would be a nuclear war, killing everybody. If we bombed Iraq or some surrounding country in the Middle East, it is likely that one would be returned, with us returning another, and so on, until eventually millions of people are killed. The goal of a war is to defeat your enemy, but when it comes to bombs, care is extremely necessary.

Good vs. Evil

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel as though there have been a lot of superhero movies that have come out in the past few years. There was the Spiderman trilogy, Superman, Fantastic Four...etc. Although many of the original comics for these superheroes came out a long time ago, I feel that in today's society, maybe it is necessary for remakes to be made and for these epic stories of "good vs. evil" to make their way back into people's lives. The audiences who go to see these "good vs. evil" films know that eventually, the hero's problems will be resolved (whether it is fighting a villain, etc.) Even if it doesn't happen in the particular movie, it may happen in the sequel or the third movie in the trilogy. The hero will rise up in the end, defeat the enemy and everything will be ok again. In the world today where a clear resolution is not in sight for the U.S. and its war in Iraq and Afghanistan, I believe people desperately look for a feel-good movie that gives them hope that we can defeat our enemies and there can be peace again and "good will prevail." We hope that a superhero can sweep down and fix things for us. A new president isn't going to become the superhero that solves our problems but I think we need some hope somewhere for a better tomorrow and I see that hope rising from superhero movies in a lot of cases. I don't watch horror movies; however, the article talked a lot about relationships, especially mother-son, mother-daughter relationships. I think some deeper meanings could be with the changing family structure today and family struggles. Maybe people watch these movies because they can relate to an underlying theme in the story or maybe it's some sort of release from reality. Personally though, I think horror movies seem a lot worse than reality and that’s why I choose not to watch them.

Superheros

Over the past 5-10 years, superhero films have reigned supremacy at the box office. The Spiderman Trilogy has absolutely been by far the largest of any recently released series'. If you add to that The Incredible Hulk, TMNT, and the X-Men series, it is clear that Hollywood has found a hit. The question is though why release these movies know, when some of these superheros have been around in comics for over 50 years. Hollywood and the writers are always looking to release movies that people can relate to, or movies that reflect society in some way. We don't have any superheros or villains that we know of, so where is the connection?
It may be a stretch to relate them, but I feel that superhero films and the Iraq war are connected. Start by examining a superhero film. You have a hero, a villain, sometimes a sidekick for the superhero, and weaknesses for both sides. Then examine the Iraq war. You have the United States, our allies, Iraq and the Middle East. In Americans eyes, we are the superhero, our allies are the sidekicks, and clearly the Middle East is the villain. If you wanted to stretch it further, you could even say that the weaknesses of the Middle East are their economy and need for resources, and our weakness could be the government that nobody is happy with. It may be a little far out that these things are related, but one thing is a fact, since 9/11/01, superhero movies have dominated the box office.

The Notebook

Movies are a paramount part of American culture. The themes and plotlines of the most popular films are usually ones that resonate with most of the public. Even horror films, which appear to just be superficial thrillers, can have deeper meanings. Many of them play up family ties, for instance, to especially impact viewers.

One movie that is particularly timeless is the Notebook. Everyone is looking for their soul mate and people relish in the chance to see a heartwarming love story. Internet dating sites are more popular than ever, so it is evident that society cannot get enough of love. This movie depicts two characters that separate for some years, yet end up together in the end. This concept gives optimism to hopeless romantics who are still hoping to get back with the “one that got away.”

As the middle class in America gets smaller and smaller, the difference in social classes becomes more obvious. The two main families in the Notebook are from difference economic backgrounds. While one is affluent, the other comes from a poorer working class. The Notebook’s audience can also relate well to this. Clearly, the Notebook is not just a sappy tearjerker, but a deep film with many relevant themes that society can identify with.

Prohibition

A controversial and debatable topic that made headlines in the United States was Prohibition during the 1920s and early 1930s. The temperance movement started around the 1840s and was at first led by religious leaders. The movement grew to include many women as well as many other diverse groups that believed it would better society. However, once the Prohibition Act went into effect on January 16, 1920, it became very unpopular in big cities and people clamored for a repeal of the act.

Gangsters, such as Al Capone, used Prohibition to increase their wealth and, consequently, crime. Bootlegging became popular among such gangsters and people paid huge amounts of money to purchase alcohol illegally. Additionally, the cost to enforce the Act was high and the topic of Prohibition became as popular among the public and government officials as abortion and environmental issues of today. Also, the fact the government could no longer impose a tax on alcohol (since it was smuggled into the United States), it lost out on millions of dollars worth of tax revenue.

Thus, growing crime, controversy and debates about the topic, and the government losing out on millions of dollars were factors that contributed to the repeal of the Act. It is also interesting to note that many social problems, such racketeering, an increased participation in the black market, and others, were attributed to Prohibition. This turns out to be ironic since the Prohibition Act was passed to solve many social problems and not create new ones. In the end, banning the sell and purchase of alcohol has not been as controversial in modern times as it was in the last half of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States

Why Gore?

After reading the two assigned articles there were some shocking points that were brought to my attention. One thing that really hit me was that society really liked to see the gory, bloody shit. Another thing that was brought to my mind was the connection of many popular horror films to the loss of the killer's mother. This horror movies really get you thinking about what is really going on. Another series could have the same affect such as the scream, saw, and hostel movies. One thing that I really don't understand is why people love this horror movies. I know we are suppose to move away from them in this blog discussion but I dont know why people like the blood and the gore. It does not bother me to see it but I dont understand why people get excited when they see someone mutilated or tortured. This excitement is similar to the story of hostel. In hostel rich people pay money to kill innocent tourists. This rich people would do it for the pleasure, apparently its suppose to be a great feeling. Everyone that enjoys the hostel movies is kind of like the person who is doing the killing in the movie. This could mean that each and every person who enjoys these kinds of movies would the same thing in real life. IF this was to be true, we'd be living with a bunch of psychopathic killers.

Reagan Assassination Attempt

John F Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 was a major turning point in US history. On March 30, 1981, Americans gasped again as a lone gunman attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in Washington DC. The shooting took place outside the Hilton Hotel, where Reagan, 69 days into his first term as president of the United States, had attended a union convention. Along with Reagan, the White House Press Secretary, a Secret Service official and a policeman were also wounded by the five to six close range gunshots. Fortunately, Reagan’s injuries were not as serious as they initially appeared. He underwent emergency surgery, but recovered quickly.

The attacker, 25-year old John Hinckley, was pinned to the ground and arrested, but he was deemed mentally deranged and sent to a psychiatric institute. Hinckley attributed the assassination attempt to his obsession to actress Jodie Foster. He was also a big fan of the 1976 movie “Taxi Driver”, whose main character, Travis Bickle (played by Robert De Niro), he was trying to emulate. In the movie, Bickle, a misanthropic Vietnam veteran, tries to assassinate a Senator at a public rally.

With all these details in mind, one could easily argue that art had an important impact on the shooting of Ronald Reagan (a former actor himself). Conversely, this event had its impact on the artistic world; it may be worth mentioning that the Academy Awards, scheduled on that very day, were postponed for the following evening.

References:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/30/newsid_2530000/2530913.stm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/

Killing Fields

The killing fields were a way of judicial process for the Khmer Rouge for minor political crimes. This was based in Cambodia. People receiving more than two warnings from the Angkar were sent for so called “re-education” this was known for its almost certain death of all the people who were sent off. They were coerced to confess to crimes that usually included a kind of free-market activity, contact with a foreign source such as US missionaries or government or international relief agencies. The reformed left under the impression that they would be forgiven by the Angkar while in reality they were being taken to places such as Tuol Sleng or Choeung Ek for execution and torture. The executed were buried in mass graves and they were killed with brutal force in order to save ammunition. They were often forced to dig their own graves and were killed using hammers, axe handles, spades and bamboo sticks. The Khmer Rouge executed almost all associated with the former government or foreign governments for that matter. Monks, intellectuals and professionals were targets of persecution.

the uncertainty at this point in the 1970’s was great. At this point in time there was a lot of involvement in journalism abroad in the Cambodian area. A perfect showing or example of this is the movie the killing fields. Cambodians were used as translators and journalists for American newspapers along with American troops. In the movie the main character Dith Pran sent his family to safety and remained behind because of the American journalists responsibility to cover the tragedy. This is a prime example of the problems with American intervention. American journalists regardless of the fears and instability of the situation remain in the danger zones as seen by Brian Williams injuries due to a RPG attack on the helicopter he was in during the early days of the war. There are always dangers for Americans even if we don’t see them. People are putting themselves in danger for our happiness and to inform us what is happening over the world. 1975 or 2007 there are dangers for Americans. I myself try not to forget what is going on and what others are putting themselves through for my comfort. Americans are in a point of insecurity and question in Iraq just as they questioned the involvement in the Khmer Rouge’s tyranny. Why do we have to sacrifice our own for the good of America. In this case we did end up helping the situation but in Iraq we may not be so lucky.

blog number two

The Scopes Monkey Trial was probably the highlight of 1925. In the state of Tennesse, it was illegal to teach evolution under the Butler Law. However, the trial came about when a biology teacher, John Scopes decided to teach the chapter on evolution from the biology textbook. The chapter was about Charles Darwin theory of evolution and work, Origin of Species. What made the trial interesting was that William Jennings Bryan, a three time presidential candidate was the persecutor, and he was representing the state of Tennessee. He was up again the most prominent lawyer of the time, Clarence Darrow. The American Civil Liberties Union also supported John Scopes because the organization felt that the teacher’s individual rights were being violated.
The trial was highly publicized through approximately two hundred newspaper that cobered the trial for days. The whole point of the trial was science vs. religion in terms of how humans were created or about their existence. It was called the Monkey Trial, because chimpanzees were found outside the courtroom lawn dancing, while the trial was proceeding. In the end, this trial had frustrated Americans to the point where thirteen states, such as Oklahoma and South Carolina, carried out anti-evolution laws.

An often overlooked casualty of the Spanish-American conflict.

The Spanish-American War is historically the war between the United States and the Imperial Spanish nation. The "liberation" of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines took place after the defeat of Spain and a US win. What many people fail to realize is that the Philippines (as a whole) did not accept that they were placed in the dominion of the United States. Within the Spanish territory, before the American take-over, movements to make the Philippines an autonomous state were long underway. The "pact" the United States made with Philippine forces to help aid in fighting the Spaniards was just another cop of a larger power taking advantage of a smaller power to meet its present desired objectives. In fact, the government established by the Philippine Republic did not receive recognition by any foreign entity. The Philippine nationalists remained at war with the United States well after the Spanish-American war. The US was seen as the oppressor, taking the place of Spain. Thus, the Philippine-American war began during which United States forces began a brutal and aggressive campaign to quell the insurrection. An estimated 15 Filipinos (both soldiers and civilians) were killed per American soldier. The United States did not want to lose the Philippines as it was both a trade and military point of interest as it was the closest US land to Asia. It makes strategic sense at a time when Chinese and Japanese powers began to emerge in the Pacific. But, I doubt the strategic value of the Philippine archipelago was worth the estimated 250,000-1,000,000 civilian and military casualties endured by the Philippine people. During this time the US also tortured and placed Filipinos in concentration camps to try to reduce allegiance to the nationalist movement. This blog post is not meant to be "anti-American", but to be a reminder that the US has had its share of screw-ups and atrocities not just now, but spread out throughout history.

Do US military need guidance?

I personally think that US military should hire engineers in terms guidance. We have to plan certain things before just firing bullets randomly and trying to be as effective as possible. If we have engineers who plan and analyze certain situations, then we would be better off. For example, if there are maximum number of suicide bombing and attacks happening at certain place, then engineers would pay very close attention to those particular areas. So, engineers can plan better in order to give US military the best potential of catching terrorists rather than getting killed. Obviously, its not easy as it seems, but the method we are using currently in Iraq is certainly not working. We need to plan before attacking, just like terrorists plan before they attack. We will have to be smart and conscious. Somehow they know what we are doing, but we don't know what they are up to. This is our biggest disadvantage, and thats why we will have to be extra conscious.

Next Time You Have The Flu Think About This...

One could easily remember that not too long ago the world was in a panic at the possibility of the outbreak of the flu. But the world was not terrified at just any flu, it was the avian flu. It is a general term used for a specific strain of a virus. Avian flu refers to any strain of the Influenza A virus that has adapted to a bird host. The recent scare was caused by the H5N1 strain of the Influenza virus. It killed millions birds and even a few people in China and other parts of Asia. The possibility of it spreading to humans (as well as the fact that the media just loves to try and scare us shitless at the drop of a hat) let to a panic. Yet it was not without cause.
Almost a century ago in 1918 there was a pandemic of avian flu. This pandemic was so disastrous that it killed more people than WWI. The 1918-1919 outbreak of the flu killed somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. This was the worst outbreak in human history. It took more lives in a single year than the bubonic plague took in four. To put it in perspective, WWII the most destructive war in human history, the greatest taking of life in one event, killed about 40 million people. That was in a span from 1938 to 1945 and nuclear weapons were used. In one year this virus killed almost as many people as six years of humanity working as hard as it possibly could to kill itself. This is cause to give one a moment of pause; could it happen again? They feared it then, as we fear it now, because of one simple fact: It can.

1989 , The Fall of the Wall

Something that brought fear and frustration was the fall communism in the year 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided a city into a communist east and anon communist west, and was the most tangible symbol of a Cold War that divided the whole world. When it came down, it was proof that the war was over, and that the communists who built the wall had lost. This is something that people were very worried about to basically a panic state with the whole world. Everyone had it running through their head at some point and the fear and frustration that came from it, was what to do next and would people revert back to communism.



A response to an earlier post on communism by Rory Laroca, which was basically all about communism and the red scare. He gets to the point at the end of his blog where he says that terrorism doesn't belong to any one country where Communism even know was in different countries started with one country. He say's Barack Obama is being accused of being a terrorist because of one unfortunate photo opportunity. The thing that really strikes me, is that he says global terror will someday be gone from the headlines only to replaced by some new threat. Now I don't really agree because terrorism is a global thing and isn't necessarily from one country and over with. For example, we had Japan with Pearl Harbor and world war 2, and then into communism, and now instead of communism, we have a threat of Islam. So the threat of Islam has been going on before 9/11. Each other replaced the other, yes, but Global terror as a whole will never cease because it is such a broad topic or area of the world. Hence the word Global.

Woodstock 1969

Although I know that Woodstock Festival isn't something that most today would consider the "past". I took into consideration that the festival occurred over 35 years ago and over 15 years before I was born. And is one of the highly recognized music festivals that most people don't remember what the whole purpose was for. What most people have in mind of the 1960's is that people drank, got high and protested. There was so much more behind what the reason behind this for and what the mindset of the population was at the time.

Much of the reason behind the gathering was a common interest in what was occurring at the time. The Vietnam war had been causing much controversy and the lives of the population at the time was constantly about the war at the time and discussions about progress and whether we should leave. Also the causality rate and amount of veterans suffering post traumatic stress disorder was at a high. This caused a great upbringing in the minds of the citizens and most wanted to get away from these things. Causing the Woodstock festival to be so successful and one of the biggest uprisings of people in history

1920's

You would not compare the war in Iraq to something in America’s history as minute as a trend or fad. When exploring America’s past these are things that interest me. Not trends in clothing, but in lifestyle. Take the time of Woodstock for example, not only was there a way that people dressed, but a certain way they thought and lived their lives. Another time in America’s past when a trend began to take over was in the 1920’s before the Wall Street crash, in which flappers began to define the nation.

A flapper not only dressed provocatively, but also began a movement in which women rebelled against what was considered acceptable behavior. This may have been the first time in America when women began thinking for themselves. Some writers and artists supported the fad during this time, while others opposed these women. Both sides would speak their minds about their feelings, which started dividing those Americans with different views about the culture. Flappers were inspired by jazz music of the time and believed in casual sex, doing drugs, and public consumption of alcohol and “making-out”. This behavior is what got flappers noticed during their time, but the importance of the fad lies with the idea that women could be independent.

Martin Luther Kings Assasination

Martin Luther King is remembered as the pivotal figure in the fight for civil rights. King was a civil rights activist his entire life. We remember King every year on April 4th, the day of his tragic assassination. April 4th 1968 King was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee.
American culture during the 1960s was undergoing inter-cultural and political change as worldwide events influenced everyday life in America.
The 60's culture was influenced by the sudden and tragic assassinations of the following prominent figures.
1961 - President of Congo
1963 - President of Thailand
1963- John F. Kennedy
1965 - Malcolm X
1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is remembered most of about King's was his message of non violence and peaceful co-exsitance with all peoples of all skin colors. King's "I Have A Dream" speech is also closely remembered as being a ground breaking moment for the civil rights movement.

The 60's decade was filled with tragic and sudden assassinations. The day after the assassination of King, riots emerged in 60 cities. The day after Kennedy's and Malcolm X were assassinated riots also emerged in many cities across America.
In Washington D.C. the riots after King's assassination were very violent. "In the ensuing three days, there were 12 deaths, 1,097 injuries and more than 6,100 arrests. More than 900 stores lay in ruins." The black district of Washington D.C. lay in shambles and the apparent non violence that King fought so hard to make his core belief was gone.
Protests from the assassination of King lasted as long as 6 months in a Washington D.C. park.
The sense that all order and good that was alive in the 60's could be put to an end by the pull of a trigger was a common and dangerous belief that the culture caught a hold of.
Around the country there was a fear that any small event could trigger a massive riot. Tourism around the country actually decreased as the fear hit all American communities.

Black Tuesday

After Black Tuesday (October 29th, 1929), there was more uncertainty in the air than almost any other time in our country's history. It was on this day that the U.S. stock market crashed and high rates of unemployment, deflation of the dollar, and poverty followed soon after. Depression was ahead and this left everyone very uneasy. According to economist Milton Friedman, "the stock market in 1929 played a role in the initial depression. It clearly changed sentiment about and expectations of the future, shifting the outlook from very positive to negative, with a dampening effect on investment and entrepreneurship."

People lost almost everything and were facing serious hardships about where to eat, where to live, and where to work. Many other countries were also affected, with severe declines in production, agriculture, building, and importing and exporting raw materials. The Great Depression was a decade full of hardship and worries and very few people went through it unscathed.

A Gold Medal Ment So Much

We since the 2008 Summer Olympics are soon approaching I felt this was an important headline from 1912. In 1912, Jim Thorpe from the United States competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Sweden. Even though Jim Thorpe succeeded beyond anyone's expectations bringing home gold after participated in the pentathlon and decathlon, his glory was soon taken away. Thorpe's medals were soon stripped from him due to a violation with the principals of amateurism brought up from AAU. They felt since Thorpe played professional baseball, he was not longer considered an amateur athlete. After doing more research I believe Jim Thorpe was also the first athlete this happened to which makes more sense to why this was such a huge issue. Also he was one of the last athletes to receive actual gold for a medal. ( After the 1912 Olympics the medals were no longer made of gold but now dipped in gold.) 

I can't believe this was even such a big issue. Now, almost all of our Olympics athletes compete on professional levels at the Olympics. Something that was so small turned out to be so big. It was not even until 1982, seventy years later, when they finally started to reinstate Thorpe's medals. Today, Jim Thorpe rests in peace in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, which is very close to my hometown which is another reason why this headline jumped out at me. There not only Jim Thorpe has the town name but also a momument to honor him.

Hebron Massacre

On the 25^th of February 1994, the first of three massacres was committed by Israeli settlers accompanied by the Israeli Army. There were more than thirty victims and two-hundred and seventy injured. The main massacre took place while the victims were performing al- Fajr (Dawn) Prayer at Al-Ibrahimi mosque.

A Jewish American Zionist physician was responsible for the perpetration. He decided to materialize the dream of the typical Zionist movement of exterminating the Arab existence in Palestine. It was during a religious festival day when Dr. Goldstein decided to execute his old plan of revenge.

As a typical Zionist his prime intention was to get away from the Israeli army and get the job at the same time. Therefore, he decided shoot the worshipers on the back. He finally made a move to run the plan as expected. This resulted in taking lives of thirty people and injuring more than hundred and twenty. He had made use of a grenade to initiate the attack and as the attack went by he had positioned himself near the exit so that he would get a clear vantage point for his shooting. This has been recorded as one of the recent massacres. As this took place on a day which was important to the religious Muslims, it dragged more attention.

SENASH

Uncertainty in 1917

Historically I would say 1917 was one of the times the American public was uncertain about the actions its government was taking. The 1917 was a year filled with battles in Europe and also when the United States eventually joined the fight against Germany and her allies. The war in Europe had started some years before 1917 due to number of factors including the arms race, formation of alliances, and clearly the assassination of the arch duke. All these made the United States adopt the policy of isolation. This policy left the American public uncertain about the actions their government was taking as a response to the major war in Europe and also the uncertainty is identical to the reaction of the American public to the war in Iraq nowadays. Back then people started to wonder why the United States was not in the fighting or when will the US join the fight. The choices they faced did not come with the desirable solutions they wanted. It mainly came down to lose more civilians and ships to the U-boat attacks by Germany and also risk an invasion by Mexico or to declare war on Germany and lose American soldiers in the conflict. Yet these choices seem somewhat similar to the choices the United States is facing right now in the war in Iraq. Should they stay longer and risk losing more men or get the hell out of Iraq and see just what happens. Therefore this has left the public uncertain, despite the fact I hope the government makes the right decision right now like they did back in 1917.

Ellis Island

When thinking about what I wanted to write about, I started to ponder about my existence, my background, my heritage and so forth. I wouldn't be in the United States if it weren't for my great grandparents. On my Mothers side, they fleed from Germany and on my Father's side they fleed from Russia. I really feel that some of us don't even think twice about what our ancestors went through to make it possible for us to live the lives we have in the U.S. Therefore, I figured writing about Ellis Island and what immigrants went through to live here. 

Ellis Island first opened up in 1892 and closed in 1954, between those years 12 million people entered the U.S. Once one arrived on the Island doctors examined you, as you walked up the entry stairs they would stare and analyze the way you acted, walked, breathed, or analyze other problems. If they saw a problem they would put a chalk letter on you  with markings that meant different things. Next they would roll back your eyes with a button hook or their fingers for Trachoma which is a contagious disease. The worst part is is that the buttonhook wasn't sterilized after each person nor were the doctors hands, so even if you didn't originally have the disease, you had a higher chance of getting it through the contact and would have to be sent back. All the medical exams together took less than 5 minutes.  After that was the mental exam. All the things you had to perform such as putting pictures and puzzles together determined your mental state, therefore those that were not educated or couldn't speak english had no idea what to do so they were at a disadvantage. The last exam was the legal one, it was supposingly very scary and intimidating because you were asked a series of questions and had to answer quickly, if not you could have been deported. One of the questions was, "Do you have money?" and if you said yes they would say let me see it and they would take it from you, if you said you didn't and you did they would send you back or even if you said no they would send you back. So right away, you were stuck and neither answer was the correct one.

Overall, coming over here was very scary because some people had no idea how to speak english. Since so many immigrants wanted to leave their countries due to various reasons, they were all crammed in boats, some once in healthy condition became very sick, or died. So many people that patiently waited for their arrival would quickly be sent away due to their physical state or if they weren't letting more people in. Once people ran into the Grand Hall there were stairs that divided the room so a lot of families became separated if they got pushed over to the other side. If people had last names that officials couldn't pronounce their names would quickly be changed. My father's side of the family had a russian last name that began with R and since it was unable to be pronounced it was quickly changed to "Ross". So after the 5-7 hours they would spend at Ellis, 12 million lucky people were let in and had to find jobs, live different lives and save enough money to bring the rest of their family over. So many people had to deal with the hardships of being isolated from others because of where they came from, a lot of jobs would have signs that said "Irish no need apply".  Ghettos were formed and basically everyone that was from the same country started moving into the same neighborhoods. From what their idealistic views were of the Great America Dream and how America had streets of gold, the harsh reality hit them hard, but they worked through it. 

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The iniquitous Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919. It is a black spot in India’s struggle for freedom from British rule. Jallianwala Bagh is a garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar. Prior to this incident a demonstration was held to demand the release of two popular leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. A military picket was used to disperse the crowd. The firing set in motion a chain of violence. Later in the day several banks and other government buildings, including the Town Hall and the railway station were attacked and set on fire. The violence continued to escalate, culminating in the deaths of at least 5 Europeans, including government employees and civilians. There was retaliatory firing on the crowd from the military several times during the day, and between 8 and 20 people were killed. By April 13, the British government had decided to place most of the Punjab under martial law. The legislation placed restrictions on a number of freedoms, including freedom of assembly, banning gatherings of more than four people ^.

On April 13, thousands of people gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh near Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Baisakhi, both a harvest and Sikh religious new year. People from all parts of the country had travelled to this place especially for this festival. People had gathered there just to pray peacefully. Suddenly without any provocation, Brigadier Reginald Dyer ordered his soldiers to fire to disperse the public and they started firing indiscriminately. They fired on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing continued for ten minutes and 1650 rounds were fired. Official sources placed the fatalities at 379. According to private sources the death toll was over 1000, with more than 2000 wounded. As a direct consequence of his actions Dyer was called to appear before the Hunter Commission, a commission of inquiry into the massacre that was ordered to convene by Secretary of State for India Edwin Montagu, in late 1919. Dyer admitted before the commission that he came to know about the meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh at 12:40 hours that day but took no steps to prevent it. He stated that he had gone to the Bagh with the deliberate intention of opening fire if he found a crowd assembled there. The incensed filled the people with rage and incensed them. In the storm of outrage which followed the release of the Hunter Report in 1920, Dyer was placed on the inactive list and his rank reverted to Colonel since he was no longer in command of a Brigade. On 13 March 1940 an Indian revolutionary from Sunam, named Udham Singh, who had witnessed the events in Amritsar and was himself wounded, shot dead Sir Michael O'Dwyer, believed to be the chief planner of the massacre (Dyer having died years earlier in 1927) at the Caxton Hall in London. The bullet holes can be seen on the walls and adjoining buildings to this day. The well into which many people jumped and drowned attempting to save themselves from the hail of bullets is also a protected monument inside the park.

Culture of Concealment

When I seen this blog, I decided to type in my birthday to see what events would appear. When I look through a list of events, I noticed the My Lai Massacre. This tragic event took place in Vietnam in 1968. The My Lai Massacre was a mass murdering of 340-500 unarmed citizens of the Republic of Vietnam. This act was conducted by the U.S. Army and the majority of the victims were women and children. It started out with just indiscrimate fire then the soldiers began to attack anything that moved with firearms, grenades and bayonets. As time went on, the magnitude of the massacre only became more brutal and inhumane. Many of these women and children were raped, beaten, tortured, and even the dead bodies were mutilated. This uncalled for massacre was successfully covered up for 18 months. The first reports stated that “128 Vietcong and 22 civilians” were killed in a “fierce fire fight”. When the truth came about, this act led to a widespread outrage all around the world. Americans were disappointed by this act of murder and this only added to the antiwar protests. Many of the soldiers were charged with several counts of premeditated murder and other related crimes. The My Lai Massacre was seen as a prime example of the government’s culture of concealment and their need of integrity in their Defense Department.

1912-100years

More so forgotten than the Korean War would definitely be the War of 1812. Everyone today thinks that we have always been on such wonderful terms with Canada and that 1776 was a firm year for our independence. This is not the case in 1812 and two years following America adamantly attempted to seize Canada. In the process, war was also declared on Britain as an ally of Canada. Things may have not gone well in some other wars of America's time, and even though the war ended in a treaty 1812 showed a more imperialistic side of America than everyone anyone has ever considered of ourselves.

Assessing the Destruction

I think that the although it is definitely odd and a little disturbing to hear how the military can calculate how many people will die if the bomb a building, it is probably much better than just dropping bombs and not even thinking twice about the damage. Even though it is weird to hear someone talking numbers on how many people will die if a particular building is bombed, it is important to know the effects the bomb will have.

In comparison to WWII, the war in Iraq is a little different. The United States does not have the goal of just killing as many people as possible to end a war. I do not think the military is trying to end something, they are trying to start something new. We are supposedly trying to create a democracy in Iraq, and I think it is important that the United States set a good example for the Iraqis. If we just go around dropping bombs everywhere and killing as many people as possible, what good is that really doing? Destroying Iraq will not help anyone, and if anything it would just make the United States look like assholes.

So it is important for the United States to assess the damage they do to buildings, because their goal is not to cause mass destruction to Iraq, but to fix it.

Utah 1857

In 1857 the Mountain Meadow Massacre occured. In this event a group of mormons and natives tricked and then attack a carvan passing through to California. The mormons believed that the US Army was going to go and eradicate them. The tension leading to this event was caused by the differences between mormons and other christian churches. Mormons were often expelled from settlements.

When the caravan as resting the mormon group attacked and after a siege tricked the members of the caravan to surrender under the guise of a white flag. Then after taking away there weapons the caravaners were killed. Men, women, and children were all victims. Only 17 children survived and that was because they were under the age of 7.

It was random that I actually found out about this event. It's called pick a year from the list. This whole event could have been avoided if there was a bit more acceptence, back in the 1850's, dealing with religion, and this proves how you need the seperation of church and state. The mormons had a theocracy, basically the church leader guy controls everything.

Titanic isn't the only thing in 1912...

When I saw that the date 1912 was given as an example, my mind immediately went to the Titanic. When the move came out about the Titanic I have to say Leonardo DeCaprio first caught my attention. So I got multiple books about the movie because of him, only to find that I was intrigued by the information about the actual ship and itself. April 14th, 1912 the Titanic sank in the open Atlantic Ocean. Of course this is a tragedy in and of itself, but another tragedy occurred on the ship and during those years. The social class issue affected many and added to the disaster.
Social class has always been a problem in the world, but watching The Titanic and reading books about the incident I realized that social class had a lot to do with the number of deaths. People from steerage were not allowed enter the deck until everyone from first class was brought to safety. However, the lifeboats were not filled anywhere near their capacity. Thus, it was almost impossible for the steerage class to survive. Now, does that seem fair? If one had money they lived, if not, good luck. This attitude has continued throughout history causing many wars, fights, and riots. When will it all stop? It seems as though we will never consider everyone to be equal regardless of how much we try. This is what causes so much hatred in the world. People just cannot be civil with each other because of the differences between them. And what’s worse is that we decide to send innocent young men and women into war to fight for some sort of cause. We will see if we are ever strong enough to realize that war is simply not the answer, and people really are equal.

Girl Power

When I was reading the article it dawned on me that by relating maternal strengths to horror films is a compliment. This is because women were starting to gain power in our society and our biggest strength is child birth, it is the one thing we can do the men can't. So we play it up and yea it can get a little funny. Like in Carrie when she started to go through puberty she get magic powers that helped her to kill people. Or when Alien master computers are reffured to as the "mother ship" because we gain a mind of our own at this stage in society women were no longer depending on men that could make a living and be happy on their own. This might be why virgins were always saved in horror movies because they were not taking full advantage of their strength. Now that our society has matured from a child to teenager women are allowed to fight in the army and fight for their country. Before it wasn't allowed for women to fight in war. Some said they weren't strong enough and other said the men couldn't watch women being killed around them. All in all it is a major feet for our country. And now we even have a woman running for president. As silly as it may seem but horror movies helped women get to where they are now. 

Fear of the Unknown

My grandfather, who was a proud veteran of World War II, had always told me of his various war stories throughout my childhood. Every time he began his stories, I was mesmerized in a state of awe and fascination. I looked up to my grandfather as a true idol and a man who evoked honor and courage. Right before he passed away, he gave me a coveted pair of binoculars that he had used during the war. Every time I go to visit my family back home, I go and examine the binocular case and think about my grandfather's story and his legacy, but never dare to open the case. Perhaps I feel as if I will destroy the only thing I have left to remind me of him.

I digress. Focusing on the particular time in which he served his military service, I cannot begin to fathom the fear that people must have had during World War II. Germany appeared as a cancerous nation as it kept growing and becoming more powerful as time passed. America, for the majority of the war, remained neutral, however, I would think that this specific time of neutrality was perhaps the most stressful for Americans, as Germany was seemingly unstoppable, and America was doing nothing about it. Once we did enter the war, however, I tend to think that people felt less frightened as their country was now fighting back against a country that, as trite as it may sound, was trying to take over the world. Still, I believe that fear results from the unknown. Essentially, people are frightened when they are faced with the unknown. Thus, this uncertainty about America's future was perhaps the driving force of our fear during the war.

Once I begin to analyze this concept of fearing the unknown in America's history, I can't help but feel that this feeling of fear is stagnant in our country. After World War II, for example, Vietnam was soon to follow. The Cold War was also a major fear inducer in our nation's past. Obviously, the fight against terrorism is the current supplier of fear to our nation. We simply do not know what the results of the war will be and as a result, we are very afraid.

Fear and uncertainty are perhaps the worst emotions that one can evoke. They are precursors submission. Machiavelli once said that the one way to have and maintain complete control over someone is to have him or her fear you. But perhaps this fear is a natural human emotion. Regardless, I firmly feel that all would live better lives if they seize the day and learn to live lives fearing nothing, however, as society stands today, I believe that this will not happen anytime soon.

Childrens Movies

I think that the articles gave an interesting interpretation as to how much society has changed over the years. I think that movies have changed a lot with society over the years. Like the articles said, there has been a large amount of horror movies that have been released in the past few years. They are over the top, disgusting, and violent, which many people seem to enjoy.

I think that one of the large movie markets that has changed drastically are children’s movies. When I was little, all of my favorite movies were of course Disney movies like Cinderella, Snow White, The Jungle Book, and The Little Mermaid. These movies didn’t exactly have complicated story lines, and were pretty simple in comparison to today’s children’s movies. Now, I can’t even get my little cousins to watch “old” Disney movies that I used to watch. They prefer to watch Shrek 1, 2, and 3, and the Spongebob movie and Herbie Fully Loaded. These movies are not even close to the kinds of movies I liked to watch when I was 6 or 7. These movies are definitely more violent and more complicated.

Children’s movies have changed so much over the past 10-15 years, but I believe it is directly connected to how much society has changed. The articles explain how post 9-11, society has changed so much. My little cousins for example, know so much more about certain things then I did at their age. They can work computers just as well as I can. There is so much more information open to them, and I think this is reflected in the children’s movies. I think that children are growing up much faster then children 10 or 15 years ago.

Red Scare

Another time of extreme insecurity was during the two different communist scares throughout the 20th century. The first was during WWI when violent protests by different groups from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia scared Americans into thinking that communism could take over. Much like how we are so afraid of terrorists today and might treat people from the Middle East differently, Americans during the Red Scare accused nearly everyone of Russian heritage of being a communist. In the 20s various anarchist groups were starting to get recognized and people were constantly pushing the norm. As a result of the fear and oppression of communists, the members in the Communist Party of the United States dropped eighty percent. The second Red Scare was caused by many different events. Soviet oppression in Europe, Iron Curtain, the Berlin Blockade, and an increasing Communist party. Unlike the first Red Scare, Americans in the second were scared to death by the possibility of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. They were also afraid of an overthrowing of the American government and many groups were ostracized. Peoples every day lives were constantly being clouded by this fear of communism.

(ps I was writing this before the Red Scare post now two below mmmeehhh)

First Barbary War

One thing many people have forgotten is the First Barbary War. The First Barbary War started after the Revolutionary War in 1801 and lasted to 1805. This meant the US ships did not have and protection form the British or French Navy. Because of this the US had no protection for sailing their merchant ships in the Mediterranean. The US Congress decided to try and pay tribute to the Barbary Pirates. They also asked the French and British ambassadors to negotiate with the Barbary nations for peace treaties. The price for the peace treaties ended up being way over the budget for America to handle due to the war they just had. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both fought to pay the wages for the treaties which ended up costing to 1 million dollars for the next 15 years. War was declared in May 1801 after Yussif Karamanli, the Bashaw of Tripoli wanted to receive $225,000 from Jefferson's administration and Jefferson refused to pay. Jefferson sent ships to defend American interests in the Mediterranean. The USS Enterprise defeated a 14-gun Tripolitan ship after a long and hard battle on August 1, 1801. Then on the American Navy was unchallenged on sea and the US continued with a blockade of Barbary ports and did raids and attacks on the cities' forces. The blockades and attacks were set up by Commodore Edward Preble. On June 10, 1805 Karamanli signed a peace treaty ending hostilities due to being run down from the blockade and the raids.

The Red Scare

In 1950 mass uncertainty and confusion had a name, The Red Scare. This paranoia centered around the idea that individuals were planning to overthrow the United States Government In the 1950’s a group of writers, directors, musicians, artist, and composers from Hollywood made appearances on the infamous list entitled “The Hollywood Ten”. This list, supposedly, was filled with radicals, including socialists and communists. It was announced that if your names were on this list you will be fired immediately, lose all pay, and never be hired again for any job in Hollywood. Artisans in Hollywood were able to remove themselves from this list by adding a fellow artisan to the list of ten. Americans everywhere panicked, and supported the list and the loss of jobs in the Hollywood industry. Many other head governmental officials were placed on the list as well. Senator McCarthy egged on the mass hysteria and individuals were left to wonder if their governmental officials (McCarthy) actually knew of these radicals who were trying to ruin their government, or if the members of Hollywood they once idolized were now being unfairly punished. Was their government safe? Was Hollywood safe?

1917, The Russian Revolution

One of the biggest changes in Europe was the Russian Revolution. One man impacted world powers and created history. His name was Vladimir Lenin, and his legacy still has an impact on today, as Russia tries to reform itself to the world of today. The Russian Revolution was a two part revolution. At first the only impact was the overthrow of the Tsar Nicholas the second, his family and himself were killed by the Bolshevik party on July 16, 1917. Odd fact he is the third richest person in the Forbes list of historical figures. The first part of the revolution brought out two sides the Reds, the Soviets, and the whites called the Mensheviks. The second revolution named the October Revolution brought power to the Reds and Lenin. One of the impacts on Russia was that it was at war while the revolution was happening. People in Russia had to deal with the devastating battles of World War One and a revolution. Imagine if you can that while you fight for your country, your country does not have a coherent single government but two! While many in the world at the time of the revolution did not take notice of the revolution it did become more of an impact later in the century. Many people of Russia were from the peasant class and probably debated who would get them food and let them live their lives. Food was one of the biggest reasons for the revolution and it caused a paradigm shift in ideology along with Nicholas II being called Bloody Nicholas.

Immigration

Over the past ten or so years, the debate over Immigration and the rules and laws associated with them have come to a head. Our country is almost literally being flooded with illegal aliens searching for work and many people have boisterously voiced their opinion. I live in New Jersey and I know for a fact that there are tons of illegal immigrants all around my area, so I can only imagine how many there are in the southern states. There have been furious debates over whether or not illegal aliens should be able to attain certain rights. Immigration is not a new topic in this country. It has always been an issue of furious debate in this country. In the early part of the 1900s, the American government was getting tired of all the immigrants coming from other countries, mainly from southern and western Europe, so they tried to put a stop to it. In 1924, an Immigration Act was implemented that "limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890, according to the Census of 1890." During the late 1800s, the population of European Immigrants was very small because the countries that were being targeted in 1924 weren't having the same problems and issues that they were in the late 1800s, thus a lot less people had migrated over to America.

In the years before 1924, there has been a lot of other Immigration Acts, but this one was America trying to put the nail in the coffin. Our government firmly believed that implementing this quote would improve the overall quality of life, cleanliness, and morale in many major cities. Many people were immigrating to this country for many the same reasons they do it today. The "American Dream" was almost a fever that swept across the Western World. The poor in many countries thought they could come to America and reinvent themselves and better support their families. However, upon coming here, many immigrants were taken advantage of by political bosses and factory owners. European immigrants left one dismal city and arrived in a foreign city much in the same condition. Immigrants were forced into slum and tenant housing and worked ridiculous hours for mere pocket change. However, this didn't stop the surge of immigrants, so the American government tried to put it's foot down. The Act was passed with hardly any opposition. Of course there were opponents, but many Americans were sick and tired of these foreigners "ruining" their country.

Obviously, today we see many similarities on the topic of immigration. Many Americans are furious about the current system and many are clamoring for change. An act such as this won't really have any effect on today's immigration, though, because many immigrants are here illegally. However, it is interesting to see how America dealt with the issue 90 years ago. The act was eventually altered, but it took until 1965.

The Tulsa Race Riot

The Tulsa Race riot, also known as the 1921 race riot, was the worst riot in U.S. history. It took place in the segregated neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31, 1921. It all began when there was an argument between a 17 year old white girl and a 19 year old black man. The dispute was being settled by the police but the white community decided to take things into their own hands. The following day newspaper articles were published entitled, “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in an Elevator” and “To Lynch Negro Tonight”. Lynching wasn’t uncommon during this time. While Rowland was being questioned at the courthouse a group of white people gathered outside, some just curious about the rumors and some out for revenge. The sheriff at the time wanted to prevent another violent lynching over such a minor dispute. The sheriff ordered his deputies to protect the black teen while he went out and tried to make the mob leave, his attempt was unsuccessful. The mob, now nearing 2,000 people, was growing violent and impatient. Greenwood caught wind of this and decided to send in a group of armed men to help defend the sheriff. The sheriff told the men to go back to Greenwood. On the way out of the courthouse there was a dispute between a white man and a black World War I veteran carrying a pistol. They began to fight and the white man was shot and killed. The shot caused the white mob to fire upon the black men and resulted in the deaths of several white and black men. The white mob then marched to Greenwood and started burning buildings and shooting blacks in the street. Whites that owned plans even began flying over the neighborhood dropping homemade kerosene bombs and dynamite on the buildings. During the night and early morning most of the black inhabitants of Greenwood were either taken into custody for their own protection or they fled from their homes in fear of their lives. The rioting continued until around 9 AM when the Oklahoma National Guard arrived. There were only 39 official deaths but a report done by the Red Cross puts the estimated deaths at around 300. 10,000 people were left homeless, 35 city blocks were destroyed by fire and there was $1.8 million, almost $21 million in 2007, in property damage. The Tulsa race riot was a tragedy that black communities had to fear in the 1920s.

Killer Bee's !

I remember the Killer Bee scare... kind of.

The Africanized Honey Bees, or "Killer Bees" as they are called were accidentally released by a careless beekeeper in Brazil of 1957. This didn't cause much of a scare throughout the United States for many years. All the way up till they came into our territory. It wasn't until October, 1990 when these hybrid honey bees were first spotted and trapped in Texas.

How do these Bee's differ so much from African or Honey Bees?
They are smaller, but only an expert can tell the difference
Defend their hive more rapidly than the European honey bee
Usually sting in greater numbers
Are less selective about where they nest
Swarm more often than European honey bees
(http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/sep/stories/kbees.html)

Basically, you don't want to piss them off.

The first case of an attack in the U.S. was in May of 1991. I man was riding on his lawnmower and was then swarmed. He was stung 18 times but was able to be treated in the hospital successfully. The first case of someone dieing from these Killer Bees was in Texas in July of '93. 82 year old, Lino Lopez was trying to remove a colony from a wall in an abandon building on his property. He was stung 40 times, must have been a painful way to go.

So we got these swarm of Killer Bees making their way more and more north in the U.S. This should cause a scare... right? Well the idea of swarms of what looks like honey bees chasing me the length of a quarter of a mile because I was too loud would scare the hell out me.

Only problem about the scare, is that, the bee's are "Africanized Honey Bees" They're not used to cold winters. They couldn't travel as far up the U.S. as people originally thought.

revolutionary war

First off , when you say that we can go back as far as we like, i immediately thought of a period of time when there was no electricity or cars, around 1793, when yellow fever broke out in Philadelphia. The novel, Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is one of my favorite pieces of writing, even though it is a children's book. so then this reminded me of the revolutionary war when an entire country's future and independence was at stake , and nothing was clear or certain. I'm sure people were unsure of how they were going to be rule or punished, if they had lost the battles.
In recent years, a great time of uncertainty was in 1989, in Russia. This period was called the revolution of 1989 and was a time when the Soviet Union encountered its downfall. It marked the end of the cold war, and also a time of great change in many different cultures. During the regime of the Soviet union, every inhabitant of a Slavic country was forced to learn to speak Russian. After 1989 the soviet union separated into distinctive countries and each was able to regain the use of its native language. For many this was a time when people were unsure of how to act, because society was no longer communistic, for the most part. To this day, immigrants who had lived through part of the Soviet union control, know how to speak both their native language and Russian.

IRAN CONTRA

It all started with the eventually called “October Surprise” in 1980. It was the presidential elections between the Republican contender Ronald Reagan and the actual president Jimmy Carter. Carter, at the time was leading the polls but his strongest point of the campaign was the release of 52 Americans hostages that were held in Iran. His promise was that he would release the hostages BEFORE the elections. According to some testimonials by CIA agents at the time Reagan’s best loyal man (and consequently his vice after the election), George Bush Senior, went to Paris only weeks before the elections where he had a meeting with the Iran Prime Minister Bani-sadr. He gave Iran 40$ Million as a proof of Reagan’s loyalty to cooperate with them after he would win the elections. What Iran had to do was to hold the hostages and release them only after the elections. Certainly these are only words and such thing was never proved to be true, but a “strange” fact happened. The hostages weren’t released before the elections, and eventually that fact led to Carter losing the elections. And what’s more ironical, the hostages were released just days after Ronal Reagan was inaugurated as President of the United States. And after that, indeed, USA started cooperating with Iran, and sold them guns that they needed to fight Iraq. They were six armaments negotiations between USA and Iraq. The money that USA gained from those deals was turned to the rebels fighting the Rebels fighting against the communist government in Nicaragua.
I am repeating this again: These are only words (or rumors), but when you think about there are a many things here that figure out perfectly, and this is certainly a point that leaves people (at least me) very uncertain. At least one thing is sure: Since that year, in each Presidential Election, everybody expects an “October Surprise” to happen!

Communism

The cold war was a period of extreme tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. During this time there was a lot of talk about communism and the desperate need to contain it. People were terrified of this “classless” society and the social movement surrounded with communism. Another thing that concerned people is that communism is very atheistic.

During the cold war, the US government took some questionably extreme measures to prevent communism from spreading. For example, suspected communists were deported from the country for their ideology. Furthermore, it was common for people with alleged communist views to be “blacklisted.” This meant that it was harder for them to be hired for certain jobs and they were ostracized from the public. The United States government used propaganda to gain America’s support in the containment of communism.

Clearly, by the 21^st century, the fear of communism has subsided. Despite the fact that major industrialized countries, like China, are communist, America still has diplomatic relations with them. The practice of blacklisting is now obsolete and the propaganda against communism has also stopped. Something that was such a huge issue a few decades ago is now almost forgotten

SAW VS SCREAM

Society today has this infatuation with how much blood can spill from the human body. Ironic that civil rights laws are so strict now and the bar of being "humane", for example on death row. I feel that the reason that we love this bloodiness is because now it seem taboo. Killing is a big no no in society today. Yet another things to think of is in roman time and gladiators. Romans loved the blood spilling and yet they lived in a society that killed and conquered everything, it was their way of life. Now a days we don't live in a world like that but yet in a way we are not that different because as Rome had rules and laws that said one could not just kill another, we have the same rules. The movie Gladiator has a lot of blood, gore, and killing. Is it really any different than Saw and Scream? I feel its the taboo feeling that, If i cant kill then I will Watch it on the TV. The Saw and Scream movies are just that. But i understand that some people want to kill or some weird shit like that but that's a long and different path to look at.

1969

I had quite a few ideas for this english post, ranging from the Great Depression, to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and even to the Beatles disbanding. While that particular event might seem insignificant now, there were plenty of people in that day who felt that was a sign of the world ending, though most of them were probably teenage girls. In the end, I couldn't decide what to write about so I took Dr. McCann's advice and picked the year my father was born, 1969. I was pretty surprised by how much went on that year. In this seemingly obscure year, China tested its first hydrogen bomb, the US and USSR proposed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, racial riots broke out in Detroit, , Rochester, Birmingham, New Britain, and New York City's Spanish Harlem, and Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African American US Supreme Court justice. That's quite a load for the American people in one year. Not only did they have to problems outside their borders with multiple foreign nations, they dealt with much internal strife as well. I feel as though the American citizens' fears about the uncertainty of the future was made much worse by the amount of violence and conflict occuring inside the borders. While we today do still deal with conflicts and violence throughout the nation, it is not on the same level. The fact that so much happened in a year that previously had little importance to me proves to me there are always problems and uncertainties in the world. In some ways these problems are remedied as time goes on, as can be seen by the decline in racial violence. In other ways these problems are only exacerbated with the passage of time. With the substantial increase of knowledge in the sciences, warfare has become more deadly than ever, with advanced weaponry and explosives that can erase entire nations. There always has been and always will be problems and uncertainties in this world, but as the past has shown, we will always find a way to get by.

We went to the moon, in 1969

We went to the moon in 1969,
Uhm, not 1968, but a year later.
We went to the moon, in 1969,
That's when the astronauts first walked in cyrainer.

So begins the Even Stevens song; these are the words that popped into my head when I thought about the first lunar landing.

While in the midst of a heated race, to see what country was ultimately the best, the United States successfully landed on the moon on July 16, 1969. Apollo 11, manned by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, was the brainchild of NASA. These three men were a part of one of the greatest days in American history-- the day we landed on the moon.

1969 was a year of uncertainty; the American people were not too sure of where their future was heading. But after Apollo 11 landed on the moon, it was the rebirth of civilization. Many believed that it would have been many more years until someone landed on the moon. Also, I'm sure others thought that it was too much too soon, or that the American government should be focusing on other things, such as the Vietnam war. in the end, NASA proved everyone wrong-- America came out on top in the great space race.

The American people were uplifted after this event; it gave many a new hope, that the United States was moving on to bigger and better things. Currently, President Bush has set a goal of having more spaceflight, so that one day astronauts will make it on some other planet.

Jackie Robinson

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African- American in the major leagues, when he plays his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Jackie Robinson was chosen by Branch Rickey, a vice president with the Brooklyn Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball. Branch Rickey knew that there world be a lot of difficult times ahead for the young athlete, so he made Robinson promise to not fight back when confronted. He was abused by his teammates, opposing players, and fans. Despite the abuse, Robinson had a .349 batting average and a .985 field percentage to shortly move from the Montreal Royals, Brooklyn Dodgers farm team, to the big time. Things did not get easier for Robinson, they just became harder and harder. Opposing teams threatened not to play the Dodgers and some of Robinson's own teammates asked to be traded.
Soon people started to see though that Robinson was there to stay. Owner of the Dodger's, Leo Durocher, League President, Ford Frick, Jewish Baseball Star, Hank Greenberg, and Dodger's Captain and Shortstop, Pee Wee Reese. Robinson also proved to doubters that he could play with 12 home runs, leader in stolen bases, and an outstanding batting average of .342. Robinson also became a leader for African American Athletes.
After a long time in the Major League's, Robinson finished his career with a World Series win and many awards. His career statistics included a batting average of .311, 1518 hits, and 137 home runs. After baseball, he continued working as a activist for social equality in sports until his death on October 24, 1972.

Conspiracy Theories.

Perhaps one of the most talked about topics in the past and still today is the issue of conspiracy theories. Many think that 911 was plotted by the government, that area 51 is a alien research center, etc… These theories cause an uprising of questions and negative feelings towards our government’s decisions.

In 1942, The Philadelphia Experiment took place in which the U.S destroyer escort USS Eldridge was rendered invisible to human observers for a short period of time. The Navy denied this even happened, putting it under the category of a government conspiracy theory leaving hardly and facts and many stories on what could have happened.

Since the United States was engaged in WWII at the time, a ship that is invisible would seem very beneficial to us, and therefore the experiment was funded. Apparently, a scientist discovered that it was thought possible, with specialized equipment and sufficient energy, to bend light around an object in such a way as to render it essentially invisible to observers. Not only did the ship “disappear,” but it also apparently teleported. “Eldridge is alleged to have not only become almost entirely invisible to the naked eye, but actually vanished from the area in a flash of blue light. However, the U.S. naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, just over 215 miles (346 km) away, is alleged to have reported sighting the Eldridge offshore, whereupon the Eldridge vanished from their sight and reappeared in Philadelphia at the site it had originally occupied, in an apparent case of accidental teleportation.” This of course would be a major breakthrough in history, but it is said that the crew on board suffered major illness, others vanished completely or were fused into the ship itself. Therefore the experiment was cancelled and attempted to be covered up completely to the public.

I’m sure in 1942, word of The Philadelphia Experiment got lose to the general public via the remaining crew or other observers. Stories of conspiracy theories always make their way into the papers or at least tabloids. They spark interest and curiosity in the minds of citizens and makes them wonder, “what else is our government hiding from us?”

Titanic

One of the biggest tragedies the world had seen in 1912 was the sinking of the Titanic. The Titanic was a cruise ship built ahead of its time due to its luxury and size. The ship had over 2100 passengers ranging from the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor. The ship was top of the line with unbelievable finishing’s, chandeliers and dining areas. One of the most important necessities that the ship did not have was enough life boats for the amount of passengers on board. This was due to the hype of the Titanic being indestructible and the unsinkable ship.

The Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912 from Southampton, England headed for New York City. The ship had been built so well that there was no person that could deny it was unsinkable. Considering the ship was “unsinkable”, the ship had only enough life boats for about half of the passengers. The idea was not for the passengers, but if any other ship needed help the Titanic had lifeboats to use. Around 11:40 PM the Titanic hit an iceberg, put large holes in the ship. About two and a half hours later the Titanic completely sank, saving only about 705 passengers.

The sinking of this ship was a huge blow to people all over the world. This hit headlines of every major newspaper questioning why there weren’t enough precautions to prevent this and why there weren’t enough lifeboats to save all the passengers. I believe we can relate this to the World Trade Center going down. People were continually asking how this could happen, and why did this happen? The questions are always the same no matter what the tragedy. The Titanic going down was one of the first times that people witnessed a large number of civilian people die and not have an answer to why. This parallels the World Trade Center because this is one of the first times America witnessed something that horrible happen on Americas soil. In both situations the same questions were asked, how, why?

Lucky Penny.

1986. I just picked up a penny, and that was the year on the coin. So I asked myself: What “fantastic historical thing” happened in 1986? I mean the date is so recent. So it took a little investigating and actually going beyond the date, using a historical moment within the date itself.

1986 marked the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. Any anniversary is significant, so I wanted to look at the significance of the statue itself.

I feel like we only appreciate the statue for the beauty of art. But we often forget the symbolic meaning of why it exists in our country.

The Statue of Liberty was completed in 1886 and is a symbol of “international friendship”. And truly a symbol of friendship it was. France gave the United States the statue as a gift after the American Revolution – a war over taxation (the taxation of sugar, stamps, currency, and probably other ridiculous items). We fought taxation and we fought against a ruling society over our own. Maybe that is what set off America’s ego and desire for power, but aside from that, the Statue of Liberty symbolized the freedom that we gained from the governing British colonies.

But what I don’t understand is if America and Britain were involved, why did France give us a gift? An ally who had a past with the defeated country was all too gracious on our behalf. And I can’t think of a time in history, ever, where a gift has been given (as glorified as the Statue of Liberty). Perhaps that is because nobody has truly won a war?

France and Britain may have been enemies, however, a gift – as unique as the Statue of Liberty is just incredible. It’s too bad that we don’t have any allies in the war now. I can only imagine what our gift could be? After this war is over (whenever that may be), I can guarantee that the gift won’t be as glorified and as nice as the Statue of Liberty. Maybe it will be a giant statue of a post-it note, reminding us not to get involved in something without thinking first.

http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/tline.asp

http://www.nps.gov/archive/stli/prod02.htm#Statue%20of

Originally

Once I read what we were supposed to write about, my mind went straight to Watergate. And as I could have guessed, one or two people beat me to it. As I read over all of the posts that people have written on the subject, I came to one conclusion; there has never been a time where there has not been any doubt or uncertainty in this world. More specifically, this country has a long timeline of events that have left the people of this country feeling uncertain about it's future. All this events and times however, with maybe the exception of the Great Depression, seemed to have a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I feel as though in today's world it is a little different. America is a young country yet has quite a history. If you look at the history of the world, no single country has stayed in power forever. America has been on top for some time now and it looks as though that time has come to an end. So why would the whole country not be full of uncertainty? 

As to why are we in Iraq; I cannot give you a 100 percent certain answer because I do not know. I can tell you what I have been told or read, such as weapons of mass destruction or oil. I also know that in the past, with America having the power that it held, we always stepped in as the powerhouse to help settle things. So may all these are reasons. All I know for certain is that the bad is out weighting the good when it comes to America being in Iraq. 

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Many view John F. Kennedy as one of the best presidents who has ever lived. However, for my family he is quite possibly the most hated U.S. president of all time. My mom’s side of the family is Cuban and were residents of Cuba during the Bay of Pigs massacre. For those who don’t know about the issue, the U.S. promised Cuban troops supplies and back-up on a huge battle at the Bay of Pigs. Under John F. Kennedy’s command, U.S. troops backed out of the fight right before the battle leaving hundreds of Cubans to die. It was, and is, one of the most embarrassing moments in American history. This battle along with an economic embargo on Cuba led to the event that is the reason why people view John F. Kennedy as one of the best presidents that has ever lived. The Cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between the U.S, the Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War. This moment is considered the closest situation in history that could have escalated to a nuclear war. Needless to say tensions were very high in America and the whole world during this two-week span. On October 14th, 1962, photographs were taken by a spy plane, which revealed missile bases being built in Cuba which is just a mere 90 miles off the shores of Florida. After weighing such options as an armed invasion of Cuba and air strikes against the missiles, Kennedy decided on a less dangerous response. In addition to demanding that Khrushchev remove all the missile bases and their deadly contents, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles and construction materials to the island. In response to the American naval blockade, Khrushchev authorized his Soviet commanders in Cuba to launch their nuclear weapons if invaded by U.S. forces. Frozen in this manner, the two leaders of the world's greatest nuclear superpowers stared each other down for seven days. During this deadlock, many Americans were frightened and unsure of the future of their country. Debates and theories were formed on the future possibility of a nuclear holocaust. The scare ended on October 28, 1962 when John F. Kennedy, with diligence and composure, reached an agreement with Khrushchev dismantling the missile bases in Cuba. After several days of teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief.

Russian Revolution

Since I went home for the night, I asked my parents what a good year would be that a lot happened and they told me 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution. More importantly, however, this was the year that the Romanov's were seized from their palace and a country once ruled by Tsar's was turning into a democratic republic. Although this happened in Russia, I believe this was big news in the U.S. as well. I'm sure people were so confused and even scared about what was going on overseas and how, if in any way, it would affect the U.S. Vladimir Lenin was put into power as leader of his Bolshevik party and the first leader of the Soviet Union.

1917 was also the year that a world wide influenza epidemic arose killing nearly 20 million people by 1920. The U.S. also declared war with Germany.

I think 1917 and the years that followed left many people flustered and looking for answers. I'm sure people were curious about what would result from the newly declared war with Germany, unaware that it would soon become WWI. The world is full of uncertainty and unanswered questions no matter what year it is. Some questions will never be answered, all anyone can do is be hopeful that everything will turn out for the best.