This is a picture of a young girl after a suicide bomber hit a religious ceremony in the middle of Kabul. Many people were killed, and an extremist group took credit for what had happened. The bombing occured on Decemeber 6th.
msnbc.com
This picture depicts the average family in Afghanistan that will struggle to survive when the Americans withdraw due to funding cuts. With the war nearing ten years in length, President Obama has already announced the withdrawing of all troops from Afghanistan and the ending of the war. Afghanistan has already reached out to Germany, asking them for help, because their economy will have trouble without the American Aid. I chose this article as my focus article because it shows how countries all around the world depend on each other for economic and political help, which is an important concept to understand in Human Geography.
This is a picture of US president Barack Obama visiting a classroom that is part of the new “Head Start” program. He stated that he believed that the program was quite valuable to US education, and that it would help a lot of students. This was taken in Yeadon, PA at the Regional Head Start Center.
This is a picture of people relaxing and swimming in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is part of the 28 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World competition. The Dead Sea is extremely full of minerals, and people go there for it to help their skin and bodies. The New Seven Wonders of the World contest was a contest held online, and the winners would be determined by mobile voting.
This is a picture of Meena Rahmani, who opened the first bowling alley in Kabul. She intends it as a place for men, women, and children to relax and forget about the struggles that war-torn Afghan is now facing. Rahmani has put about a million dollars towards this center, hoping that the ideas of fun and enjoyment will spread and be popular. I chose this as my focus picture because it shows how any country can really start to get back on its feet with help from its citizens, which is part of human geography.
This is a picture of Russian troops dressed in historical uniforms to parade through Moscow’s Red Square. This was for the 70th anniversary of when the soldiers of the Soviet Army marched through the same Red Square during World War 2 to join the front lines.
This is a picture of the devastating landslides in Western Colombia. At least 24 people were estimated dead, and they have dogs searching for many more under the rubble and debris after many houses were carried away.
The campus police officer John Pike sprayed calm protestors that were doing no harm with pepper spray. This created a great controversial scandal that ended in an apology by the way things were handled.
In Faroe Islands, they have a tradition that includes slaughtering whales and eating them. This has gone on for more than 1000 years, and it is accepted because they cannot sell the whale and simply divide it up evenly between the people in the town. This occurs about November 22nd every year.
Protestors in Egypt were hit with tear gas, guns, and physical violence from police forces. The protestors are angry over Egypt’s constant military rule and the fact that the government is trying to delay the elections even further. The protestors occupied Tahrir Square.
Since Khadafy died, the rebels have claimed that their nation was liberated, and began to set up a transitional government. Even though they are having problems with fighting in between tribes and rebels wanting to keep their weapons, the rebels have begun trying to write a constitution. In addition to all of this, Khadafy’s son was captured, and he could possibly be charged with war crimes for what he did in effects with the conflict from Khadafy’s 42-year-long reign.
I chose this picture for my focus picture this week. It was taken in Lima, Peru. The women here are supporting International Day against the Violence of Women. This shows some of human geography because it not only shows how ideas spread to other people in different countries, but also how a lot of people around the world can stand for the same ideas, and wants the same equality that should be right to everyone.
This week we finished going over political geography and talked a bit about the documentary on Capitalism. We also took our quiz on political geography. The quiz was pretty easy, since there was only four questions and it was open note, but it was a lot of writing. This week was an interesting week in news, with lots of controversy, which we always discussed at the beginning of class.
Beginning in July, there have been extreme floods in Thailand and the North of Bangkok. The damage is extreme, and may cost them over 6 million dollars. The water has been steadily heading south and will soon reach the capital, where people are now evacuating. Due to the floods, about a quarter of the rice crop has been ruined, which is the country’s main way of earning money. Over 400 people have died due to the flood.
Police recently began breaking up the “Occupy Wall street” camps. They ruled that while people had the right to protest, they could no longer have tents or sleeping bags there. As shown in the picture, some officers were forced to treat protestors a bit cruelly to get them to leave the spots. Protestors also fought with workers, who tried to push their way through the crowds to get to their job area.
This is a picture of a group of United States Marines carrying a wounded soldier off of the field. He, and another Marine, were hit by an IED and received various critical wounds, mostly on their legs. This occurred on November 10th in Afghanistan.
This article was about the demonstration held in Cairo to try and push the military rulers out of Egypt. The protest, while mainly attended by Islamic people, was one of the largest ever. This is because the people want a presidential election held as soon as possible, April 2012, instead of 2013, as to get the military rule gone as soon as possible. Political cartoons and pictures of an infamous blogger who was imprisoned were handed out and passed around at the protest. These people don’t want any sort of ruling over them anymore. They want a democracy.
5.) Battles Begin Early for Female Recruits in Afghan Army
AISHA CHOWDHRY
This article was about the challenges Afghan women face when attempting to join the army. Many of them receive grief from their families, with one woman’s fiancée even threatening to kill her. There is a very low amount of female recruits in the Afghan army, which officials are trying to change. The jobs for women in the army pay well, and they “won’t be going on missions.” Instead, the women will be given office type jobs that deal with matters of the army. The women are taught in classrooms that contain computers, projectors, and well-educated instructors. They are taught a variety of subjects, from English to computer sciences. A lot of women want to join so they can work hard for their country, too. I chose this as my focus article, and it shows Human Geography because it shows how another country across the world can be having some of the same difficulties as we are, such as prejudice against female soldiers.
This week was an okay week with class. The first few days we worked on our research project, which went okay, except a lot of people just sat around on their computers. Then on Friday, we did the mini group project on Genocide, which was pretty cool, especially since I liked the new program we used a lot better than google docs. We went over another program too, one that you could use to highlight directly on webpages, so that helped with our research. The week was definitely a bit boring, but it was okay.
1.) http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/looking-to-the-children-for-guidance-in-afghanistan/?ref=world
(Focus Article)
This article was about the children in Afghanistan, and how they are extremely strong willed and knowing of what is going on. They are used to fights and such, and all have different reactions to the soldiers, depending on what sort of area they live in. For example, if the area is well off, thanks to the soldiers, the children will greet them with smiles and a raised hand. If the area is worse, the children might even greet them with their middle fingers raised. The article was written by a man who had been to Afghanistan as a soldier. It relates to Human Geography because it shows how dichildren react to US soldiers in a different part of the world.
2.)
This is a picture of a two week old baby rescued from the rubble in Turkey. Turkey recently suffered a severe earthquake, and is asking for help from the world for recovery.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15453272
3.)
This picture shows Afghan girls going to a makeshift school to learn how to read verses of the Koran, which is a sacred book for the Islam religion.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15453272
---Learning Reflection---
This week was interesting, because we presented our projects. It was cool seeing all the different clothing and music of other countries, and the different food (although I didn't eat any of it!) I liked that we got to do google documents for the projects. That's all we did this week.
1.) Car Crash
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3842331/ns/us_news-the_week_in_pictures
This is a picture of the Indycar World Championship race at Las Vegas. There was a horrific crash, which resulted in Dan Wheldon, an Indianapolis 500 champion, losing his life.
2.) Soldiers in Kunar
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/
This picture is of several United States Infantrymen in Kunar. Over 130,000 soldiers of many different ethnicities are still there, fighting a war that has been going on for 10 years and resisting the Taliban. They are trying to help the Afghan troops regain control of Kunar.
3.) The Joy of Freedom
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15391289
This picture captures the happiness Palestinians felt when about 1000 of their prisoners were released in exchange for one captured soldier. The deal is called the Hamas- Israel deal, and has sparked a lot of controversy. Was one man really worth 1000 others?
4.) Paint and Protestors
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15383765
This is a picture of the Greek police that are trying to stop the protesters. There has been a 48-hour strike which severely hurt the country’s production. While the police have started using tear gas to control the protesters, they (the protestors) have been firing back with stones and paint.
This picture is my “focus” picture and my favorite. It shows the reality of the life of a soldier that is fighting against the Taliban. They’re thousands of miles away from home, but they still find joy in small things from the US, like candy. The soldier’s name is Andrew Ferarra. This ties in with Human Geography because it shows how little things from countries can easily travel and be important somewhere else. Also, the picture is of the war in Afghanistan, which is a huge thing for us to think about when we are learning.
~~~~~Learning Reflection~~~~~
We started this week with our test, which wasn't too bad. I liked being able to take it online, but the clock counting down in the corner freaked me out sometimes when I was trying to think of answers. I like the cultural unit, and I really like that we're using twitter as a way to expand on what we are learning about. The project for this unit seems okay, but it's just more clicking and finding information. I think it would've been better if we could have chosen our countries, because then we would be looking at things that we are interested in and learning more about it. The only thing I didn't like about this week was that I think we went through the notes a bit too fast. I didn't have enough time to get everything down and to fully grasp the concept before we moved on.
This week was pretty interesting in terms of what we did in class. I really liked the first video we watched, about the different populations in each country, but it was really depressing. The things we took notes on were easy to understand. The population pyramids kind of confused me, but going over them a lot helped. What I really didn't understand was the different stages of population growth. Our project was tedious and kinda boring, and took a lot of just clicking and reading, which wasn't that great.
The best part of this week was the badges on Edmodo. I still want that "YASDFR" award, Mr. Powell!
This article talked about the harsh criticism America now has for the Italian justice system after the Amanda Knox trial. It discussed how the media wrongly painted a picture of the Italian police being too lenient, and the court system too corrupt. This made Italy come back at America, saying that their justice system was wrong, because, “they have the death penalty, which is wrong to most Italian Catholics.” Basically, the faults and trials of the Amanda Knox case have created quite a controversy in both countries, and the aftermath isn’t about to go away anytime soon.
Bringing America Back: Up to 3M New Jobs Possible as U.S. Manufacturing Makes Comeback
This article was about how almost three million jobs could be coming back to America from China. This is due to the rising labor costs in China. This, combined with the costs of shipping goods back and forth, makes it a better economical decision to produce a majority of goods here in the United States. People are asking the consumers to try and focus on buying things that have the label of being “Made in America”, so that companies will want to move their businesses back into the country, thus creating more jobs for Americans and less for other countries.
Steve Jobs’s secret legacy: Dying Apple boss left plans for four years of new products
This article was about Steve Jobs’ recent death and the affect it had on the Apple company. According to recent reports, as Jobs’ knew how severe his disease was, he made sure to create ideas for enough products to keep the company going for at least four more years. At the moment, that isn’t needed, because Apple sales have increased about 100% as people buy products in memory of him. There is a huge demand for all products, and a large number of preorders for his first biography. The point of this article was that Steve Jobs’ made such a huge impact on the way we live today, that he and his company are not going to be forgotten anytime soon, even with his death.
Hunger crisis grips North Korea as food runs short
By: Thomson Reuters, with contributions from Jeremy Laurence.
This article talked about the severity of malnutrition in North Korea, and how it is downplayed by the media. They have requested food aid for an extremely long time, but only about 30% of it has been granted, because other countries, such as the US, think that they shouldn’t give aid until they can be absolutely positive that the food will go to the people and will not be seized by the corrupt government. Accusations from South Korea, saying that North Korea is lying and exaggerating how much trouble they are in, has stopped help even more. People who have visited North Korea also downplay the worsening conditions. This article didn’t hide from the truth and really put into perspective the troubles that North Korea now faces, due to lack of food from natural disasters.
I chose this article as my focus article because it was super intriguing and really made me think about what America claims to do, and what it really does. This article was written by a war veteran named Matt Farwell, and it was about his life now as a homeless person. Due to his times in war, his mind wasn’t in the best place when he was sent back to America. Therefore,he’s been unemployed for about a year, and sleeps in parks, bushes, and sometimes in a twenty-four hour library. A startling number of veterans cannot find proper work or housing when they come home, which forces them to live out on the streets. The government does not do enough to help these soldiers, and thank them for serving our country. Many of these veterans need counseling, which is offered by the VA, but is still hard to get. Matt Farwell even said that he would “honestly rather be in Afghanistan.” At least there, he had a place to sleep.
This week I had a much better experience in class. I was able to follow along much better and understood more of the content. We discussed the 5 themes of geography, and learned some more of what is considered Human Geography. Our quiz on Friday was pretty hard, but I liked that it was writing, since I excell in that more then map quizzes. We also set up our edmodo accounts, which quickly turned into all of us treating it like Facebook and commenting who-knows-what. It's one social networking site that isn't blocked!
I enjoyed what we learned this week, as going over the maps showing peoples' opinions across the country really interests me. I hope we continue to do the same concepts in the weeks to follow.
By AMY TEIBEL and MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS September 23, 2011 (AP)
This article was about how Palestine asked the UN to be recognized as an independent state. To do they, they have to make peace with Israel, which has been in debate for years. Palestine has great public approval, as a lot want to end the struggles they have had. Palestine’s leader Abbas hopes that this new plan and talks will end 18 years of nonsuccessful negotiation. Some international mediators are trying to find a way to get more independence for Palestine without them becoming a state, but approval for their plans is unlikely. The U.S. plans to veto this idea of statehood in the UN.
Slowdown, debt worries in China add to global anxiety
By Keith B. Richburg
This article was about how China’s economy is dropping slightly in growth, so they are stopping their stimulus plan. This hurts all countries, as many people, even Americans, counted on the demands in China to help their companies stay in business. There has been a lot of inflation in China, and investors fear that the economy in China may fall hard. People think that the Chinese economy isn’t built on a stable foundation, and if something’s demand falls the whole market will crumble. With no stimulus plan in sight, the world may be in trouble without China to help it.
U.S. Pushes Europe to Act With Force on Debt Crisis
By MARK LANDLER and BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
This article was about how President Barack Obama has been talking with the Chancellor of Germany and the President of France to persuade them to take greater action against the debt in Greece. The US believes that Europe should be doing more to stop the spread of Greece’s debt, and that they need a larger bailout fund. The European debt crisis is huge, and it could severely hurt America’s economy. The Chancellor realizes that it may take a great effort to get the Germans to spend millions of their dollars on bailing out Greece, however it may keep the debt from spreading and creating an even bigger crisis.
US using controversial money-transfer system to deliver aid in Somalia
By Associated Press
This article discussed how the USA is using unique ways to transfer food vouchers to poverty-stricken Somalia. Certain terrorist groups have been blocking international groups from giving food and money to the worst places in Somalia. The group al-Shabab has most of the control of the famine aid coming into the country and will often lock out help. The UN nations are trying to find a solution soon, as around 4 million people are in poverty in Somalia.
I chose this article as my main one, because for me it was the most interesting and I learned the most from it. It began with talking about the major drug use in Montana in the early 2000s. The arrests of people for meth had gone up 90 percent, and the state was spending an estimate of $300 million a year to try and stop the terrible drug use. They had little success until they tried a different approach.
Montana produced and showed commercials directed at teens against meth starting in 2005. They were disturbing and showed what would happen to people who tried meth in very graphic videos. The ads were made by an organization called the Montana Meth Project. The ads have waves of advertisements against meth, the most recent showing how a meth addiction affects family and friends.
The results from these commercials were astonishing. Meth use by teens went down a great 63 percent since 2005. Montana is now ranked 39th in meth use among the states, instead of 5th. The ads have been broadcast to about eight other surrounding states. The results there were also great, with each state declining at least 50% in meth use.
My learning reflection of this week was that I think our week was very scattered and we didn't really focus on one thing long enough. I like how we tend to talk about things happening in the world in the beginning of class, since it gives me a chance to share my opinion and learn about world events, but the rest of the days confused me as to what exactly we were supposed to be learning. I wasn't sure if the Kenya things were actually something we would go into, or if it was just for the intro. I'm hoping we'll focus on certain things next week so that I can get a better grasp of the content.
This article was about the ways the new leaders in Tokyo are trying to make changes to things such as exports in Japan, to make its relations with the US much better. However, making these changes may prove difficult, because leaders trying to enforce these new rules before have received little support from the public. The leader, Noda, will meet with President Obama to discuss more ways to strengthen the US-Japan relationship, which is vital to the Eastern regions.
2.)
9/11 Babies on Dads: 'I Never Met Him but I Know I Love Him’
Authors: Eric Noll, Marcia Biggs, Kristen Adams and Enjoli Francis
This article was about the children that were unborn when their fathers died during the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11. They all talked about how they had memorabilia of their fathers, and the different parts of them that was like their father, which made them feel as though they had memories of them. All of the children were happy to meet one another, as it made them feel less alone.
3.)
Berlin Hopes Growing Tech Community Will Lift City’s Economy
This article was about how the government of Germany hopes that the country’s recent uprise in the use of technology will help the economy become better. As of now, the unemployment rate is very high and rates for rent are rising very quickly. People also hope that the government will take better control of the recent technology, as it is all from outside businesses.
4.)
Denmark to Be Led by Its First Female Premier as Leftists Win
This article was about the recent polls in Denmark which showed a great possibility of Helle Thorning-Schmidt becoming their first woman prime minister. Her promises which caused her great popularity included raising taxes on banks and the wealthy, and adding about 12 minutes to the average worker’s workday. Her victory is set by the dominance of her party that was elected into Parliament.
This article was my favorite to read because it involved kids trying to get adjusted into a school, which reminded me of my first weeks here at John Carroll.I learned that Russians are still quite against Americans and have not yet fully recovered from the fall of the Soviets. I found this article entertaining to read, even though at six pages, it was the longest one I read. I thought the author wrote things very well, and his words about the talks with the headmaster made me laugh. This article ties in with what we are learning about because it talks about people moving and adjusting to a new country, while keeping some of their American values and traditions alive. The kids telling their new friends at school in Russia about America showed a bit of Globalization.
