WikiLeaks and the man behind it: Julian Assange

Dear editor,

WikiLeaks has become a very big issue lately. Julian Assange, the man behind WikiLeaks, has been publishing these documents that no one has seen in a website that can not be shut down. Videos of soldiers killing civilians and classified goverment documents are being exposed to public. The question is, should we know about this? Seeing and knowing about this only makes us loose the power and respect the United States has.

Whenever you see a video of US soldiers shooting innocent civilians like it was just a video game, you feel anger. You think of the families of those people, you think of the friends. But the truth is US soldiers are just doing their job. It does not matter if you confused a camera with a gun, soldiers do everything they can to protect their country. Thats why we have such a strong military.

Having these classified documents and videos only raises hate against the United States and all those countries being attacked. Julian Assange is not even american, he is an australian journalis and it is none of his buissness to be giving out documents about other countries. I consider him a cyber terrorist, which is as bad as a terrorist is, maybe even worse. He has been encouraging problems and conflicts that we do not need anymore. These soldiers that appear in a video he released, are only trying to protect their country. Yes, it was their fault to confuse a camera with a gun, but what if it was a gun? Maybe something big and bad would have happened because we did not stop if being afraid we were confused. They suspected, and took action. It is their job to protect their country and it's citizens.

In conlusion, Julian Assange should not be publishing these documents and videos. It is none of his buissness. There was a reason that they were not published. He is a cyber terrorist and should be detained. WikiLeaks should be shut down because it is better if we do not know about these things. It only creates problems that the world really does NOT need right now.


Source: http://trueslant.com/colinhorgan/2010/06/22/wikileaks-julian-assange-surfaces-bradley-manning-adrian-lamo/

Torture: Methods, Rules and Guidelines

There are many methods used to obtain information from prisioners. Torture can be physical or mental. You need to be harsh on them because you will not get anything out of them if you treat them right but you have to keep in mind that there are rules and guidelines for tuture. You want to mentally break down the prisioners mind so that he will start giving out information. Sleep deprivation can be very effective combined with other exercises such as putting a towel in their head and pouring water to create the illusion of drowning or the abdominal slap. Also feeding them every 5 minutes will make them think they have been locked up forever and they will start going crazy and just give out information. But, as I mentioned, there are rules and guidelines. You cannot mistreat these prisioners in a way that is not stated in the accords because you could either ger a short-term repercussion which would be sending you away for a few weeks or the long-term one which is to let you go.

United States and Germany

When the war started, the United States had no desire to join the war. Things changed when the Lusitania was sunk by the germans and they had to stand up and join World War I. In the cloud of the United States, German, Goverment, War and Without are mentioned a lot which means that the United Stated wanted to stay out of the war but due to what the germans did, had to step in. The cloud of the Germans mentioned numerous times the words peace, sink, submarine and illegal. Basically their focus was on America's peace and how they planned to sink the US submarine and how they knew it was illegal. They did it to manipulate them and make them join the war.

Call of Duty: Allowed or Not Allowed?

Everyone knows what about Call of Duty or Modern Warfare. They are these new video games about war and people can play with other people around the world. But the question is should they be allowed? Or is this encouraging violence all around the globe?

In my opinion, these games should not be allowed to everyone. They are games that have a lot of shooting and blood. The problem is, whenever you do something so much, it becomes natural and what happens if these people that play video games all the time go out and get mad and decide to kill someone? They probably think it is not so bad since there are actual games for it and since they are so used to killing people even if its only a video game, they will not feel the same thing in regards to killing as someone that does not play these games will.

But do they have a benefit somehow? Well yes. Soldiers that are being trained to go to war should be allowed to play these games because really, killing someone can be very psychological. And they will have to go do it whenever they are at war so they need to train so that they do not panic at the battlefield and become mentally prepared. Playing these games a lot can become natural, as I mentioned before. So they will not feel weird or strange or anything when the real thing comes, because they will be so used to seeing someone from the opposite team ,pointing with the gun, just shooting and moving on to the next one.

So in conclusion, they should be allowed and they should not be allowed. They should be allowed to those soldiers getting ready for war so that they are mentally prepared to kill people. Now, all those other teenagers that play these video games as a hobbie should not be allowed to do so because they will start thinking that life is video game and they will not feel the same way about killing people as a person who does not play these games will.
 
source: http://fur.ly/3myz , http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://scrapetv.com/News/News

Fear in the air: Dogfights

Dogfights were new in World War I because it was a new kind of technology that provided more strategic ways to combat in war. But have you ever thought what was going on in the pilot's mind? They were probably feeling so scared because really, fighting is really scary and dangerous in earth, now in the air? It probably was horrible to be in a new machine (airplane) and using these  bombs to kill this other machine with humans inside and trying to avoid their bombs as well too. They probably thought about all the things that could happen, like the plane exploding or some parts falling causing the plane to fall as well or burning alive. I think it was the worst job ever!

Gallipoli- World War I

World War I had so many casualties because it was a world war. So many countries were involved and so many people were killed. With new weapons and technology, it became easier to kill people in wars. And the countries did everything to protect their land. And this had such an impact on society because of the number of casualties and how serious the wat became. Everyone was gull of rage and fought with allies. It was like a whole new concept to society because of the outcome; millions of casualties. It also showed how powerful some countries were. But still, they had no idea what World War II had in stores for them.

A Cinderella Story

A Cinderella Story is a perfect, easy example of imperialism, just put in another view. First of all, imperialism is whenever one nation that is stronger is opressing another weaker nation. It is a very common term in history and here in the United States, we practice it a lot and have had lots of pratice doing so.

So I guess you are thinking, what would Cinderella have in common with imperialism? Well, Cinderella's stepmom is very rich and powerfull, since Cinderella's dad was. Cinderella, however is weak and does not have money or any power at all. She is the maid at her house and does everything. Her stepmom opresses her and makes her do everything in exchange for nothing.

Cinderella has good things about her. She is friends with everyone, she is nice, she does not really complain, and she is a happy person. When countries that practice imperialism opress on weaker nations because they have benefits or resources the stronger country needs or anything that might interest that stronger country. And Cinderella does have very good things in her side, because her stepmom knows what she is doing is not right and Cinderella probably knows that too, but since Cinderella is so kind hearted and nice, she will not say anything and just do what she is supposed to do. So Cinderella's stepmom, who is stronger, opresses Cinderella because she has benefits, something that interests her- the fact that she will not whine about anything. Cinderella's stepmom is taking advantage of Cinderella because Cinderella is weak and can not defend herself, and she is strong and powerfull.

Next time you think about Cinderella, or see the movie, think about how it relates to Imperialism. Because really, it does. It is a very easy way to remember how it works. And all you have to do is remember the movie, and I think pretty much everyone has seen Cinderella. :)


source: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://disneyexclusiveonline.com/images/Disney_Exclusive_Online_

Journal entry June 7, 1905: Conditions in the Panama Canal

June 7, 1905

It's just another day here at work. Building the Panama Canal is not the easiest thing ever. Sixteen people I know are so sick from Malaria that they can bearly move. Some other have Yellow Fever. Dysentery and thyphoid are starting to break out. Dengue mosquitos are everywhere and everyone is getting sick. We are in horrible conditions, the climate is so humid and it is so, so hot. The death tolls are raising more and more and I am scared I might get infected too. It has been very difficult to adapt to the tropical heat and people are dying from that, too. It is just getting worser and worser and I do not what to do. I do not want to do, I have a family. Thats the only reason I am working, to feed my family. But really, nobody realizes how hard we work here. More and more disease outbreaks are coming through the river and if we keep this pace, we are going to all die.

Juan Gonzalez
West Indian Panama Canal worker

HawaiianQueenLili tweets!

HawaiianQueenLili<3
First day of four crucial days in history! Today, at 12:00 over the legislative session's closing ceremonies at the Goverment Building. I walked across the beautiful street to Iolani Palace to have a more fancy and significant ceremony. I  proclaimed a new constitution that I have been writting in which restores power to the throne and you guys, the Native Hawaiians! I'll tweet and have you posted. Aloha!
1/14/93 1:13 P.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
OMG I just got told by Thurston that the Committee of Safety would challenge us. Oh no.
1/15/93 3:10 P.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
I have issued a proclamation declaring that I would not seek to alter the contitution except by constitusional means.
1/15/93 4:15 P.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
I was unsuccessful. I sought Minister Stenens' assucance that he would support out goverment against armed insurrection. I really wish to avoid bloodshed. Peace hawaiians!
1/15/93 5:30 P.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
Several hundred Native Hawaiians and other royalists are gathered peaceably at Palace Square in my support, how sweet! I'll keep fighting for you guys, I promise.
1/16/93 11:00 A.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
What just happened? All of a sudden Lorrin Thurston vehemently denounces me and asks the crowd to empower the committee! And it passed cheers. Although no one had mentioned overthrowing the monarchy, it was understood. The Committee of Safety gave a letter to Minister Stevens requesting him to land troops from the Boston. Oh my God, I really just want this to end.
1/16/93 3:30 P.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
Great, now 162 armed tropps from Boston just came ashore. A few marines were posted at the American Consulate and Legation, but the main body of the troops marched throught downtown Honolulu past the Palace.
1/16/93 5:03 P.M

HawaiianQueenLili<3
Dole just gave Stevens a letter from Thurston, asking for his recognition of the provisional government, which they plan to proclaim at 3 that afternoon. The American minister told Dole, "I think you have a great opportunity."  What is this supposed to mean? Hang tight Hawaiians were not giving up!
1/17/93 8:00 A.M
 
HawaiianQueenLili<3
Those bastards had luck. Theyre about to set out to take possession of the Goverment Building. But Hawaiian police halted a wagon loaded with arms for the insurgents and the driver even shot a policeman in the shoulder! Oh my God!
1/17/93 4:30 P.M

 HawaiianQueenLili<3
Just yielded my throne. Not happy at all. But its for the good of everyone, I did everything I could. Im sorry Native Hawaiians, I really wish this hadnt turned out this way. But never loose hope! I love you guys!
1/17/93 8:00 P.M

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory realtion to Bourgeoise and Proletariate

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is a movie that realtes to the  Bourgeoise and  Proletariate. The umpa loompas are the Proletariate. The Bourgeoise is Willy Wonka and his factory. Willy Wonka explains that the he "rescued" the umpa loompas from their land and gives them chocolate in exchange of work. But really, he just looked for them and brought them back to his facotry for his own and complete benefit. To have some other kind of people making their chocolate and knowing the secret ingredients instead of having normal workers who steal his recipes. Now the umpa loompas are a lower class and are like the hard workers and the ones who do everything. They are the ones who melt the chocolate, wrap it, test new ideas, and so on. Now Willy Wonka is like the boss like the Bourgeoise that is ordering around the Proletariate and using them for his own benefit claiming he "rescued" them.

The School of The Assasins: Allowed?

The School of the Americas is a school that trains latin americans in the United States to overthrow their goverment if it is convenient for the USA. The School of The Americas has trainer over 60,000 latin american soldiers. They teach them counterinsugency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. What they do after they graduate from the school, is they go to their own countries, and overthrow the goverment and build a new one that is has the same views and thoughts like the United States. Some people even call it the School of the Assasins because hundrends and thousands of latin americans have been tortures, raped, assasinated, dissapeares, massacred and even forced into refugee by the graduates of this school.
Now, the question is, should we be able to have this School of The Americas and train people to overthrow other country's goverment and build a new one that is of our content? NO! The United States should mind our own buissness. We should care of out wealth. We should care about our economy, our health, our people. Not spending tax money to teach people how to overthrow goverments in countries we dont like. Thats nonsense. The United States is always getting into other countries buissnesses and getting things out of them for itself. And the worst part is it is all done with OUR money. Our tax money. But of course, many people didnt even know about that. Why? simply because it looks bad whenever the USA does something like that. Like, always, only caring about themselves.

Blogging vrs. Pen and Paper Assigments

Blogging, as I said, is something that is very heard back where I come from, Guatemala. So it was something completly new and at first I thought I would do horrible and that I wouldnt like it but it turned out to be very easy and useful. I think when you blog, you create an argument for a side that you believe is right, so you have to actually understand the topic and analyze it to chose and argue that side. So its not like you make up everything, you have to understand the topic. So I learned so much more blogging than pen and paper assigments. It helps you memorize and understand better.

Favorite Blogging Topic?

My favorite blogging topic was the six word story. I liked it because I didnt know how deep six words can be. Like, I had never lerned or heard anything about "six words stories", so it took me a while to finally come up with one. It so interesting how six words can say so many things without really saying them. And plus, it was a blog in which we just had to write six words so it was pretty easy! But I liked, it was fun thinking about a story made up in only 6 words.

Learning new ways to study: Blogging!

I come from a country where we dont have this kinds of advanced learning techniques. In Guatemala, I was in a very good school but not all the people that live there go to a good school. My school was pretty advanced in everything but normal schools were not and we definetly didnt have these "blog posts". So when we were first told about it I felt a little scared and nervous because it was new to me. But I realized all they do is help you. They give you a situation where you have to make up your mind and create an argument for it. You have to analyze and decide which choice is better and fight for it. Besided learning from it, it is better than doing handwritten homework in paper or readings. All teenagers use the computer like everyday. So that gives us a lot of opportunity to log on blogger and just be done with United States History's homework. It was nice learning another way of learning and studying. I was also good because like other people can read them and comment or make suggestions or remarks. It was a great way of  learning, having fun and having the opportunity to get an easy A or B. I think we should keep them going through out the year because they have helped me understand better all the topics and everything because it actually makes you think about it. Also, I realized that in tests, it is easier for me to remember everything because I wrote an argument for it. I deffend a side of that situation and its easier to remember everything. It was a grat way of getting out of all that "youre homework for tonight is reading a 30 page article about Slavery in the United States". We are so used to that that it was nice to get out of it for a while. And I actually learned more from it than I do in those worksheets, so who said learning could not be easy and fun?
 

Excitement and dissapointment: Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants coming from the United States were probably very excited to come to this "new and different" world. When the shipped arrived and they saw all the buildings and all that, they probably felt so excited and hopeful. But as they got off from the ships and went inside the city, like in New York, they saw what was really like. It was so filthy and gross, not to mention smelly, that their hopes and excitement probably fell to the ground. But it was at least an opportunity for a new beggining so they made the best from it.

Stitch, stitch, stitch, a day in the factory.

The factory workers in the nineteenth century worked so hard in the factories. Endless hours every day of hard work and as described in the song, until your brains begin to swim, your eyelids and eyes feel heavy and you sleep on the buttons still dreaming that youre sewing. If must have been hard to go through the whole day stitching and working. They made these songs to actually let people see and hear what a real day of work in a factory was like. It was hard and they worked until they couldnt work anymore.

Six Word Story

Finally His dreams actually came true.

Who said learning was not fun?

When people hear the word "game", they usually never link it with "learning". But here's something they did not know.
Oregon Trail is a great game. It is a game that shows information from the 1800s, while the west expansion was going on. Gaming could potentially connect with learning because while you are playing and having fun. You need to find a way to remember the material you are learning and playing a game about it is a great way. Many of us are visual learners and gaming helps a whole lot because it helps us memorize and make connections between the game and the lesson learned through it. In the Oregon Trail game, you have to move pieces all around the board. You have to know the information from what it told you to be able to play correctly. Its a great way of learning because it told you facts about the 1800s. Playing games and learning can help you understand everything better. So keep up the gaming!

The Old But Good Cowboy Days

Back in the 1800s and early 1900s,  Erwin E. Smith was busy taking pictures of the daily life of a cowboy. This pictures would later be treasured as some of the most accurate cowboy pictures because they showed how cowboys really were and what they did in their daily life.
In his collection, his pictures show the varied jobs the cowboys did. It was not always that easy, sometimes it was a hard job. Some of the managed cattle, others worked as range bosses to the wrangler. And the bronco buster to the line rider, the cook to the cutting horse. The goal for his pictures was to capture the rugged realities and the romantic life they lived on the open range.
One of this pictures from his collection, is a picture of a boss in a horse. I like this picture because it actually shows how the cowboys did have a boss. This pictures show how cowboys really were.
Hollywood's portrayal  is a little bit different from what cowboys were really like in the 1800s and early 1900s. Hollywood's series in television called "Gunsmoke" was about cowboys and the open range. It had some things that were true but there were things left out. Also, today we think that cowboys are just men with round hats, boots, a gun, cowboy pants and a horse. We imagine them at a bar living a romantic life. But the truth is that is only partially true. In Erwin E. Smith's collection, we can see that they had not-so-easy jobs. They did have their boots, horse, hats and gun. But they also had struggles with the jobs. So thanks Erwin, for taking those pictures and permitting us see the reality of how cowboys really were in the late 1800s and 1900s!

http://www.cartermuseum.org/collections/smith/collection.php?asn=LC-S59-078&mcat=9&scat=28

Educating Slaves?

I think former slaves werent really educated because they had to be working all the time. The children of the landowners learned are were educated but not the slaves. This was one of those many descriminating details that the African Americans went through in the past. They were treated very badly. I think that if they wanted to learn anyways there wasnt any time because of all the work they had to do. I think that they werent allowed either. Also from who would they be educated? So no, I think slaves were not educated.

Better or worse?

The effect Reconstruction had of former slaves wasnt that different. First, yes they were freed, and the laws were passed along with the Amendments but they were descriminated always. The "white" people always founf a way to descriminate against the African Americans even after they were no longer slaves. But freed slaves had nowhere to go after they were freed so they had to work to feed themselves and/or their family. They developed a sharecropping system but this too icluded orders from the landowners and was like a mutated form of slavery. I think they were better of after Reconstruction because even though it was little by little, they made progress in becoming completly free of descrimination and all those issues.

Amnesty or no amnesty?

During Reconstruction, Lincoln wanted to give amnesty to the South. I think this was definetly a good idea because it was reconstructing the Union, bringing together the South and the North. If this wouldnt have happened we probably would be THE United States of America. I think Lincoln was looking for a plan to bring the US together after the war and he deveploped the idea of granting amnesty so that they would come together and form what the United States is today. So I think it was a very important decision.

Stereotypes: The "common" thing to do now

Stereotypes are so widely known by so many in our society today because they are spread out so quickly by people. Like if you know someone that is this particular religion or race, and he does something that you do not usually do, the you will have a general idea that people that are this particular race or religion, also do that. And that, is not true. It can be, in some occasions, but you do not have to make assumptions from one single person. This stereotypes are getting more and more common to do and this is not good.

Slavery or preserving the Union?

Abraham Lincoln's concern was more focused on preserving the Union rather than slavery because I think being the president of the Union, his goal was to preserve the Union. I guess slavery would make the South and the North fight and it could risk the probability of the Union splitting up. I think he was trying to end slavery, but at the same time, he wanted to avoid the possibility of the Union splitting up.

Including everything from the United States history in our textbooks

I do not think we should change everything about the way we teach younger students about the history of the United States. I think they should change the fact that they are leaving some things they do not feel proud of out of their textbooks. I think we should teach students everything that happened in the history of the United States because we have the right to know our history. Everything from our history, not just the good things that happened.

Everyone has the right to know!

Countries should not leave out pieces of their history out, even if it is negative. The country's citizens have the right to know about their history, whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. I think everyone should be able to know about the negatives in their history also so that they can try and not commit the same mistakes their ancestors did in the past. History is the past and you cant really change anything about it, so you cant lie and leave the things you do not feel proud about out of your textbooks. Everyone has the right to know about them.

Many reasons why history matter

I personally think history definitely matters because it is basically our story. I think it is important to know why things are the way they are and how they got to be that way.  It is important to know history because history is part of out past and we should be able to know about it, so yes, it matters. It also matter because as some people say, history repeats itself. So if we want to know or predict about the future, history should matter to you. This and many other reasons are why history matters.