Maxed Out Documentary Presentation

Bosnia Genocide

How did the west react to the genocide occuring in Bosnia?
         Did the west do everything to stop the murders?
         After the genocide, is justice being found?

20th Century Genocide

I am interested in researching the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict.  I would like to learn more about this topic because it is a more recent genocide and also directly effects a family of our school. 
I want to find out the reason why the Serbs wanted to destroy the Muslims and how it benefited their people.  I also want to know what was done to stop the genocide by Bosnia and by the world.

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/bosnia.htm

DRC Recent News

         300 Congo villagers were raped by rebel forces, led by a rebel commander.  The commander's name was Lieutenant Colonel Mayele and was in command of the Mai Mai militia group.  Villagers who were rapped included 235 women, 52 girls, 13 men, and 3 boys.  Many of the victims were rapped multiple times.  The commander was given to the UN by his superiors because they did not approve of his actions.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/06/congo-rape-arrest-mayele

DIscussion Comments

1) Idea or question that's lingering after your discussion.
           My group failed to discuss the child deaths in the Congo.  I thought that was a large part of the issues and maltreatment of the Congolese during Leopold's rule.  Additionally, it seemed that the group came to the conclusion that Leopold in the Congo was equivalent to the Americans and the Native Americans.  My opinion is that while faintly similar, there is no real equality between what happened in the Congo and what happened to the Native Americans.  While both used trickery in order to take the land from the people, the treatment of the Congolese was incredibly worse than the treatment of the Native Americans.  Additionally, the land that the Natives had was actually needed by the Americans, while the Congo was not needed by Belgium.

2) Evaluate your small group discussion.  What worked well? How can you improve?
              The discussion was alright.  There seemed to be a much better transition and smoothness to the conversation when the questions came directly from members of the group.  This way whoever had the question will have probably already formed an opinion on it, making it easier to discuss.  There was a huge lack of interest from half of the group, myself included.  The topics we were discussing were very straight forward to me.  It seemed like we were just talking to talk, not to gain a better understanding or to support opinions.  The questions needed to be easier to counter argue or have more than one right answer.  It was too easy to come to a conclusion.  The discussion was basically over 5 minutes in.

KLG 2

Leopold - "Indifferent to his schoolwork as a boy, with no interest whatever in art, music, or literature, Leopold was nonetheless a dedicatied scholar when it came to one subject, profits" (37).
I find this quote to sum up the priorities in King Leopold's life.

Stanley - "Leopold was now certain that this vast territory in the middle of Africa, miraculously still unclaimed by any European power, could become the colony he craved.  At last his long-dreamed-of production could reach the stage, and Stanley would be its star" (57).
This quote sets up what Stanley's use to King Leopold is.  He would be the poster child of colonization.

"As king of a small country with no public interest in colonies, he recognized that a colonial push of his own would require a strong humanitarian veneer.  Curbing the slave trade, moral uplift, and the advancement of science were the aims he would talk about, not profits" (42).
This quote supports the idea that Leopold would justify colonization with every other reason to colonize other than the real reason, being for profit.

KLG 1

"In other ways, African slavery was more flexible and benign than the system Europeans would soon establish in teh New WOrld.  Over a generation or two, slaves could often earn or be granted their freedom, and free people and slaves sometimes intermarried.  Nevertheless, the fact that trading in human beings existed in any form turned out to be catastrophic for Africa, for when Europeans showed up, ready to buy endless shiploads of slaves, they found African chiefs willing to sell" (10).
I find this quote interesting because it implies a sort of "they led to their own demise" aspect to Africa later being taken over.

1. Is Affonso a hypocrit or a protector?
2. Stanley; does he deserve the title of great explorer if he exaggerates what he finds?

What I Learned in School Today!

Imperialism
- There were more reasons to colonize than economy, resources, and land.
- Old Imperialism and New Imperialism are very different
- There are three types of colonies (Outright Colonies, Protectorates, and Sphere of Influence)
- The Berlin Conference was a meeting to split up Africa among the European powers

Das Question From Ze Blog de Knechel

1. What's being discussed in this article?            In this article there is a discussion of the 72 murdered bodies found in the north of Mexico.  They were migrants making there way to the United States, when a drug cartel intercepted them.  They were asked to work for the cartel, but when they refused, they were killed.
2. When did the event happen? (Is this breaking news or something that's been analyzed and discussed for a while?)          This event occurred on August 24, 2010.  This is breaking news because the bodies were found just 6 days ago.
3. What questions do you have that would help make this article make more sense to you? What more do you need to learn about to be able to report on this event?            I would like to know more about who was migrating where, why they were traveling in such a large group, what drug cartel asked for their work, how did the shooting occur, and how did the one survivor escape.  I would need to learn about drug cartels and how one migrates from Mexico to the United States to report on the subject.

STL Rams Win the Super Bowl!!!

It was a crazy day on January 30, 2000.  It was Super Bowl XXXIV featuring the Saint Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans.  I was excited as ever for this was the first major sporting event that I actually cared about.  My parents had gone to a Super Bowl party, so me and my siblings went to my grandparents house.  We all plopped down on the couch and prepared to watch the game.  My grandmother had purchased Super Bowl cupcakes for us all to eat during the game.  My brother ate mine.  The game began and moved to half time in a flash.  The Rams had only scored on field goals and led the Titans by 9.  In the third quarter the Rams scored their first touchdown and the whole house went crazy.  My grandmother corrected my celebration techniques though and taught me how to do the bob and weave.  The game was nearing the end with the Rams leading.  Tennessee had the ball and prepared for the last play of the game.  The ball was hiked and they attempted to run it for a touchdown.  I remember the Rams player grabbing the running back and stopping him inches from the end zone.  At first I was confused if he had scored or not, but I later realized we had won.  I was extremely excited, but I kept inside because I was too tired to cheer.  That was the first sports game I remember.

The Death of Michael Jackson

While I was driving back to a friend's house from lunch, I turned on the radio to listen to some music.  A Michael Jackson song was playing, then the next song was a Michael Jackson song, then the next song.  We both figured it was just a marathon day or something, but as soon as the DJ spoke, we knew otherwise.  He said that it has been confirmed that Michael Jackson is dead.  He continued to speak saying his prayers go out the MJ and his family, but neither of us believed what we were hearing.  When he repeated the news, we both knew it wasn't a mistake.  As soon as we arrived at her house, we both ran to the television.  Flipping through channels to see if it was true.  None of them confirmed that he was dead, just in the hospital.  I texted friends that I knew would care that the King had passed, but it was the first that any of them had heard.  This got me wondering if this was a bad joke.  However, as soon as any doubt popped into my mind, the new confirmed the radio DJ.  Michael Jackson had died.

9/11

September 11th is a significant event that I remember.  I was in the third grade and preparing for school.  My father was watching the morning news and saw the first plane hit.  He called me into the room to see what was going on.  When I arrived a saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center.  I was not fully aware of the significance of the event while I was watching.  It was interesting to me to watch the large explosions.  I then went to school, where no one was discussing the event.  No teachers, no students, no one.  My teacher asked me and a friend to go down the the lunch room the ask the lunch ladies if we could borrow something for class.  In the lunch room, the lunch ladies were sitting around tables watching CNN on the TV.  When we walked into the room we looked at the TV and saw the first building collapse.  As the lunch ladies reacted, neither of us understood why this was such a big deal.  We asked our question and returned to class where we told the teacher and other students what we saw.  While none of the other students understood either, there was a reaction from the teacher.  She went and told the other third grade teachers as quick as she could.  While I did not understand the impact of the event, as time goes on, I gain a better understanding of what happened that day.