Research Summary - The Holocaust

Our group has chosen to research The Holocaust for our group research project. The holocaust started around 1940, although there were many events that lead up to it. Causes of the Holocaust include, World War I, Adolf Hitler, natural selection, nationalism, a totalitarian/fascist dictatorship, and many more. Effects of the Holocaust were, Germans isolated, PSTD (post-tramatic stress disorder), 9-11 millions of jews were killed, and many others that were not jews (17 million, to be exact), and the distrust of germans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust

Quarter Three Blog #15 - Overcoming Odds

For this blog, I read an article about how recovering cancer patients have a harder time getting jobs than people who haven't had cancer. This makes sense to me, because companies don't want to have to deal with the extra expenses and health care costs, but at the same time I feel so bad for the people trying to find jobs. I imagine that it lowers their confidence level quite a bit, and just reminds them once again that they aren't like everyone else, as hard as they try to be, and they can't afford to not work with all of their medical costs. This article particularly hits home to me, because my uncle has cancer. His cancer is not treatable by radiation or chemo, and he also is a single dad of a super-adorable 4 year-old. His cancer was in remission, but is now back. I can't imagine what would happen if he got fired, as he is barley making it by as it is. Having cancer isn't anything that someone hopes they get, so why can't businesses see that, and treat everyone fairly?

Caryn-Rabin, Roni. "Cancer Survivors Struggle to Find Jobs, Study Finds." New York Times. 17 Feb 2009. 22 Mar 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/health/18cancer.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=struggle&st=cse>.

Quarter Three Blog #14 - Love

For this blog, I decided to write about a song that has to do with love. I chose the song Love Story by Taylor Swift. I absolutely love Taylor Swift, and think that she is a great singer, but what I like most about her is that she writes her own music. A lot of her songs have to do with high school, first love, and questioning yourself and others, which I think a lot of high school girls can relate to. The song Love Story is just as it sounds, every girls fairytale love story. The song is similar to Romeo and Juliet. The girl sees her Romeo, and they immediately fall in love, but her dad tells her that she can't see him. But she sneaks out, and sees him, and she tells him that she can't handle this. And asks him to make it better, and figure it out. She goes to meet him a while later, and he's late. So she says that her faith is fading in him, when he finally comes she questions if it can work out and if she really loves him. But they he proposes to her, he calls her his Juliet, and tells her that he talked to her dad, and he is fine with it. And now they never have to be alone. I think this song is so cute, and reminds every girl of their perfect fairytale ending.

Citation:
Swift, Taylor. "Love Story." Fearless. Big Machine, 2008.

Quarter Three Blog #13 - War

War. Something nobody likes, but always seems to happen. This is the topic of my blog today, specifically about the war in Iraq. I read an article about the war, I learned that March 19th will be the sixth anniversary of U.S. invasion in Iraq. The country seems to be divided on whether we should pull out of the war or not, although polls seem to show that more people would like to pull out. But, whether we like it our not, our newly elected president Obama has created a timeline, and all U.S. forces are to be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. Michale O'Hanlon, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, said, "And obviousley after six years, Americans are going to be a little sick of it," which not all are going to agree with, and is a very contorversial topic. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the country has spend $700 billion dollars on the war since 2003, and as of March 12, 2009 4,259 Americans have been killed in the war.

Hormick, Ed. "Recession-hit Americans 'a little sick' of Iraq after 6 years." Cable News Network. 13 Mar 2009. 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/12/iraq.war/index.html#cnnSTCText>.

Quarter Three Blog #12 - Imperialism/Colonization

For this blog, I'm going to talk about something we all know (or should know), the colonization of the United States. Britain colonized thirteen colonies in North America, they declared themselves independent in 1776. There were many reasons for colonization, new technology and better shipbuilding skills were developing, plus they could build their population, and become wealthier from trade and natural resources in the foreign lands. Britain shipped 50,000 of it's convicts to North America on the Mayflower around 1610. The first successful English colony was Jamestown, near Chesapeake Bay. They continued to gain territory, and establish many more colonies along the Atlantic coast. There were then many acts of Parliament, such as the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act. The colonies got very fed up with the English government, and decided to separate themselves, and become their own county. We all know that they established their own form of government, a constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. The rest is history...

Citation:
"Colonial History of the United States." Wikipedia. 6 Mar2009. Wikipedia Incorporated. 11 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States#British_colonies>.

Quarter Three Blog #11 - Global Issue

For this blog, I read an article about the war in Iraq. President Obama recently announced that 12,000 troops would be withdrawn from the war. There are currently 142,000 troops over in Iraq. He has also announced his plans to withdraw most of the troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. In addition, 4,000 British troops will also be withdrawn. There are many mixed reactions on this topic. House speaker, Nancy Pelosi expressed concern when she said that Obama's plan to leave Iraq is too large. I personally do not think that pulling out of the war is a good idea at all. If we pull out of the war, what message is that sending to other countries about us? I think it's telling them that we are weak, and can't stand to fight any longer, and that we are quitters. Is that what we want people to think about when they think of us?

Citation:
Tawfeeq, Mohammed. "12,000 U.S. troops out of Iraq by fall, military says." Cable News Network. 8 Mar 2009. 8 Mar 2009 <http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/08/iraq.troop.withdrawl/>.

Quarter Three Blog #10 - Holidays

My favorite holiday of all time is Christmas. There is just something about that time of year, everyone seems happier, you get to see family that you haven't seen in a while, pig out on amazingly good food, see the reactions on peoples faces when they open their presents, and of course there are presents to be opened. But of course, there is actually a meaning of Christmas. The reason we actually celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ, but his birth was not always celebrated. Back in Rome, they celebrated solstice, and held a celebration called Saturnalia, around December 17-24, in honor of Saturn (the god of agriculture). The church decided that they needed a Christian holiday in December as well, they decided on December 25, and it soon became a big celebration, although not as big as Easter or Good Friday. There is much confusion over whether Jesus was really born on December 25th or not. But Biblical chronographers have mapped out timelines, and they do believe that Jesus was indeed born on December 25th.

Citation:
Dowdey, Sarah. "How Christmas Works." 21 Nov 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 4 Mar 2009 <http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm>.

Quarter Three Blog #9 - Bollywood

This blog has to be about Bollywood, so I decided to blog about a recent movie that we watched in class. We watched the movie Bride & Prejudice. The movie is a Bollywood film, and takes place in India. The movie is basically about the main character, Lalita and her trying to find a man. She find a great man, Will Darcy. But things are so up and down with him. She really likes him, but he offends her when he says he wants to open a hotel in India, and not have to deal with Indians themselves. But Will soon redeems himself when he attends a family dinner at Lalita's house, and is soon joining in on the dancing and fun. He has to return home soon, and don't know when they'll see eachother. Lalita and her family are headed on a flight to California, when she soon finds out that Will is on the same flight. He graciousley gives up his first-class ticket to Lalita's mom inorder to sit next to her. They ended up talking, and catching up with eachother. When they get their, things quickly turn sour when Lalita meets Will's mom. Will ended up passing on the Hotel in India, because of what Lalita told him, and his mother is still very bitter about the whole idea. But that soon blows over when Will's little sister tells Lalita that he always talks about her and how she's such a nice girl. Will and Lalita soon start dating, until they encounter yet another speedbump with his mom. They are attending the wedding of her sister, and Will's mom introduces Will's girlfriend to her (the women she wants him to marry). Lalita is very upset, and gets even more upset when she finds out that he was the one who broke up her sister and her boyfriend. She says she has no time for him, and leaves the next day for London. So of corse, Will gets on a flight and attempts to track her down. He finds her in London, and they quickly reconnect, and they both try to find her sister who has run off with some guy, and has a dangerous past. After they find her, they also find that her other sister, Jaya has gotten back together with her boyfriend and they are getting married. Will then propses to Lalita, and she accepts. The movie ends with everyone celebrating at the double wedding.

Citation:
"Bride & Prejudice." Miramax Films. 11 Feb 2004.