village child

It take a village to raise a child is still true in some respects in others it no longer holds true. It no longer takes an entire village to bring up a child, but the village still influences the child. Everything a person comes across in the world ultimately influences a person. So while the village no longer actually raises the child it still influences the kid. From this point of view the village is considered the world outside the home. So who the child is around, teachers ect, help to create the person the child will be. Friend are also a major influence. The experiences the child goes through are also a major factor I how the child will be.

elders

What makes someone an elder is having more experience in a particular field or just in life. Elders are more knowledgeable having had the experience to understand what is going on. Elders should be respected because they do know more. An elder does not always have to be older. The may just have more experience in a particular activity. Experience is the main component that determines an elder. Whoever has the more experience is the elder because he is more knowledgeable.

narrative

When asked why he chose to be in the National Guard, his response was that his whole life he had wanted to be in the military. Ever since he was a little kid he knew that’s what he wanted to do. And he wanted to be able to do something for his country. So in his senior year he joined.

            This is apart of the story to one of my close friends. This is the story of how he spent his summer. While most of us we’re enjoying the summer off, having just graduated high school, and getting ready for college, Ryan spent his entire summer at basic training for the National Guard/Army.

            On the first day he found himself on a bus meant to carry forty to fifty people on it, there were eighty people. Everybody had with them a backpack and their rucksack. The equipment weighing about eighty pounds. There was absolutely no room. People were on top of each other.  Nearing his destination, the place he would spend his whole summer, the sound of M-16’s and grenades erupted. The bus stops and he and the others are forced out. There are people yelling at him. People around him are being pushed and hit. There is still gunfire and grenades going off. Even smoke grenades were present. He then had to line up. Everyone was put into a formation of six rows. Fifteen people in each row. Then while standing there he had to hold the bags he had with him over his head for two hours. The drill sergeants then did role call, and proceeded to divide the group up into platoons. There were four platoons all addressed by their respected number. Ryan was in the fourth, so he was one of the ones that had to stand, with his bag, for the duration of the separation process. He then had to run to the area his platoon was designated to go. On the way there he was hit by a drill sergeant. Once he got to his designated area he along with the rest of his platoon had to do push ups for an hour. He then had to head up to the sleeping bay. After putting his bags into the lockers, again along with his platoon, he had to do push ups in the bay for two hours. He went to lunch next. He had thirty seconds to eat. After lunch he did more exercises and was yelled at some more. he and his platoon went to bed at nine. At eleven they were woken up, yelled at, and continued with exercises. This went on all night.

            Ryan did say that things did lighten up. At the beginning of the fourth week his platoon moved from red phase to white phase. They had a little more freedom. He was allowed to walk to church on his own. But then because of some trouble Ryan’s platoon got into they were moved back into red phase. There was a search of the lockers and a lot of contraband items were found. Also on Sunday there was only one drill sergeant with the platoon and he held an illegal pizza party. Ryan’s platoon was punished for this. This sergeant was also found having been paying one of the lunch ladies for certain favors. He was dealt with by the military appropriately.

            Other things Ryan experienced in basic was constant hunger and he always had to wear the same clothes. Everything was scheduled. He went to bed at nine and woke up at three thirty. There were a lot of parts of basic training he enjoyed such as using the different weapons like grenades. He also enjoyed the team building exercise like having to cross water with rope and a board.

            Coming home for him was “awesome.” He had freedoms he had not had for months. There are still some things that still affect him from having gone through basic. He cannot drink from a cup if it has ice in it unless he uses a straw because all through basic he could not have ice. Also while in basic he had to march in step the majority of the time so sometimes when he is walking with a group of people without realizing it he will try to match their steps. For three months he had not seen a girl, except the lunch ladies, and they don’t count, so seeing a girl was strange.

            I went to Ryan’s graduation from basic, he was graduating with two other guys I knew from high school, and my boyfriend is best friends with all of them so I went down to see them. Hearing there stories about everything they went through are amazing. They had no idea what had been going on with the world. They didn’t know what was going on with sports or what music was in. there is no way any person on the outside could really understand what Ryan and the others went through. And the thing is he chose to do this. He chose to spend his summer training for the military. He wasn’t one of those guys who didn’t so well in high school and felt like he had no other option. He graduated with honors and was active in school through out his high school career and nobody forced him to join. The other two guys from our high school were like him honor students who stayed active in school. After college Ryan plans on pursuing a career in the military. He is doing this because it is what he wants to do, it’s what he believes in.

            Ryan could go to Iraq next summer he would prefer to go after college though. And event though he could be sent to Iraq next summer he still believes it necessary to be in Iraq. The main reason he gave being that because of the situation over there if the U.S leaves now the government will not sustain and there problems will be worse than before.

            When I talked to him about the upcoming election he said that Obama is not a bad choice but he will vote for McCain because Obama would more than likely cut military spending which would hurt equipment supplies and quality which would cause the same problems it did at the end of the Vietnam War.

            After college Ryan plans on pursuing a career in the military. He is doing this because it is what he wants to do; it’s what he believes in.

 

first paper def

There are a lot of aspects of the war in Iraq that are unclear. Some ambiguity is over controversy other is over terms or specifics.

One question that comes up a lot is did the U.S declare war and if so when? Also when did the other countries acting as the united states allies consider themselves officially in the conflict. The united states has only officially declared war on a another nation five times in its history. The last time was world two. In the Iraq war the united states has not officially declared war. Instead they are “occupying” in order to reestablish order. And originally discover weapons of mass destruction. Over the course of the war many countries have joined the united states in the movement against Iraq. Originally the united states and the united kingdom invaded along with smaller forces from Australia Denmark and Poland (wiki 1). The united kingdom considered themselves and the united states officially at war with the united in march of 2003. There was no formal declaration of war on the united kingdoms part either. They just joined the united states in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

There is also a lot of question over why there was an invasion in Iraq. Originally the reasoning was there were weapons of mass destruction. The united states offered information supporting the possible existence of weapons of mass destruction. The united kingdom also said they had information supporting the existence of weapons of mass destruction. Countries like France Russia and Germany reputed these claims saying that their intelligence had not picked up on any information supporting the U.S and U.K’s claims. The war then took on a turn as a movement to remove Saddam Hussein from power for various reasons ranging from alleged accusations connecting Hussein to Al Qaeda , to the supposed support of suicide bombers and finally resorting to blaming the government of violations against human rights. (wiki 1). After the government was taken out Saddam executed the united states continued work in Iraq to establish a democracy ultimately reestablish order. But while working to put things back in order more wave have been caused forcing the united states and allies to continue occupation in Iraq.

There are a lot of problems that have come up and the United States now had to contend with. The problem of the Sunnis and the Shiites is causing a lot of upsets in the United states occupation of Iraq. Most everyone knows there are two groups of Muslims and knows there is a difference between the two groups and they know that they don’t get along but for the most part people do not know where the origins of dispute stem from. They main conflict between the two groups is over religion. Both of their beliefs stem from Muhammad and they use the same book but they do not agree on is when what they Mahdi the “rightly guided one” will appear. Sunnis believe he has yet to come while Shiites believe he has been here and is in hiding. The groups also put emphasis on different parts of the Quran.(hnn 1.) Another misunderstanding about Sunnis and Shiites that often takes place is the some people believe that all of them cannot get along which is not true. For the most part Sunnis and Shiites get along just fine. It is the extremist in both groups that cause issues. It should also be noted that ninety percent of the Muslim nation is Sunni.

But the big question now is what to do over the war in Iraq. This war has been a movement from one issue to another. Once one problem is supposedly solved another comes up. What to do now is a question up for debate. After the surge statistics did show a reduction in violence in Iraq. Some people believe that it is over time to get out of Iraq, others believe leaving Iraq now would be a loss in all that has been gained. But that leads to the question what really has been gained in Iraq? The original government has been over thrown and a new one established. The number of acts of violence has been reduced. But there still is not peace, and the country of Iraq is still in shambles. The united states continued occupation is causing agitation on all parties. Where the war goes from here will depend a lot on the next president and how the other additions to the government chooses to handle it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works cited

 

 

 

The Public Whip.

Counting Votes On Your Behalf. www.thepublicwhip.com sept 19 2008

Wikipedia. Declaration of Iraq War. en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/declaration_of_war_the_united_states. Sept 19, 2008

“What is the Difference Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and Why Does it Matter”

www.hnn.us/articles/934.html. Sept 19 2008.

movie response F. Douglass

the movie wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything too special either. There was a lot of information presented, and it was shown in a way that was not too dull, but a lot of the information given was stuff we had already been informed of. Also there was not a whole lot about Douglass, it left the basics and told more information about what was going on. Reading his narrative was more informative than watching the movie.

promt six lit and hist

Literature and history are closely associated because literature reflect the events and ideas going on during the time it was written. Literature can help us form our ideas about history by explaining it through the minds of the people that were writing during that time. For example during the times of civil right what was written by an African American will vary from what was written by a Caucasian. In reading different works we get an idea of how the events occurring were viewed by different people. Also in reading literature often you can get an idea of the mentality of the people of that time. Though often writers of history are found to be ahead of their time in mind set.

community outcast

The answer to this weeks prompt depends on the situation, and the person involved. Personally for the most part I would rather be in a community for most situations. The main reason is I like being with people and having support. There have been situations, though, where I was closer to an out cast because I did not agree with the direction the community was taking. In this situation I am assuming the community is a group of people. On a larger scale thinking of the community as a large group living together its better not to be an out cast because in having a community there is a safety net as well as more resources to pull from. Being an outcast is difficult because people consider you different and you have to be able to deal with that. For the most part I would rather not

american dream

Yes the American dream does still exist. For the most part if someone want to own a house they can. Some people though if they are not willing to put the effort into the dream will not achieve it. Also the traditional American dream had changed from the idea of the suburban home with two cars in the garage to variants of the life style people prefer. For some people now the American dream is a house out in the country or a nice apartment in new York city. And white picket fences are not too popular anymore. But really the American dream does still exist it has changed and it only exists if your willing to work for it.

proposal

Proposal

In the upcoming election the most important topic is how the future president will handle the war in Iraq. The war in Iraq now the third longest war in U.S history and easily the most expensive has come into a very delicate situation. The research paper will be written about the different approaches to the war and how the candidates plan on handling the situation.

There are several reasons this topic is important. To start with the war has come into a delicate state of existence. How it is handled can have lasting negative effects for all parties involved if not properly dealt with, and even if it is handled in the properly lasting damage may still occur. Another reason this topic is important is because there are many parties involved. Ranging from personal connections to people involved with the war to national involvement with other countries. The Iraq war is also related to other national issues mainly oil, meaning gas prices. This is another reason the war needs to be carefully handled and is an important topic.

This topic should be important to others because depending on what happens it can affect a lot of different parties. The war because of all it involves also will have effects on many different groups of people. There are several countries involved. All are affected by how the war is going. The U.S and her allies are all working to try and contain the situation in Iraq. The presidents decisions to increase or decrease troops effects not only our military but that of our allies, like great Britain. The war is also affecting the way the rest of the world views the U.S. Depending on how we handle the war, other countries may find their feelings toward the U.S changed. the war also has profound effects on the economy. The economy, which should be a concern of all U.S citizens, will ultimately be affected by the paths the Iraq war takes. Especially because the war involves the middle east which is important to our oil supply, everyone should be concerned. Unless they don’t care about gas prices then it wont matter.

The subject of the Iraq war is vast. My knowledge of it is limited basically to what is presented in the media and a few other sources that I have looked into. But I know the general facts of the war as well as the different opinions of the war. I have a more extensive understanding of the two main candidates approach to dealing with the war. I am also aware of the current events on the war. I also have read some of the theories presented by various parties on why the war was started and how it should be handled now.

With the five small papers I have a vague idea on how I will handle each of them. The first one I will work to simply explain the topic. The narrative because I am not aware of all it entails I am not sure how to approach it. The compare and contrast I will be comparing the Iraq war to the Vietnam war. There are several articles I have already read concerning that comparison specifically. The last two I am not aware of what they involve so I don’t know how to approach them. In all the papers I am going to try and keep neutral stance. I have strong opinions on the subject but because of the nature of the project I will try to keep out bias.

annotated bib

News source:

Gerstenzang, James. “The Wars Reach on the Obama McCain Battle Field at Home: The Countdown to Crawford.” Los Angeles Times 9 Sept. 2008

 

The count down to Crawford section of the LA times is centered around the last actions the Bush administration takes. It is posted on the La Time website and is set up in a blog formation. The relevance this has to my topic is the articles often relate how the final decisions of the bush administration effect the election. The article written on Sept. ninth concerning the topic of the Iraq war explains how Bush has decided to begin pulling troops out of Iraq. The article explains how inevitably having the troops taken from Iraq distracts from the election and gives McCain an edge. The writer of the article clearly believes the Bush administration decided to take the troops out of Iraq in order to help McCain win the election.

“Obama has been arguing that “Iraq distracted the US from the more pressing business of Afghanistan.”“ this is an important quote for my topic because it shows Osama’s stance on war. It does not show that he does not want troops out he just believe they need to be concentrated in another place. The article also explains that because of Obama’s stance on the war the pending deployment of troops to Afghanistan is not likely to affect the election.

 

“While neither the Iraq war nor the war in Afghanistan appears to be emerging “as a defining issue of contention between the candidates,” the BBC notes, the announcement of troop withdrawals from Iraq helps McCain argue that he was correct in advocating a “surge” of troops when the president opted for that course in January 2007.” this quote essentially is the argument of the article. It is particularly important because it was stated my another news media. It simply reiterates what the article is explaining.

“The more he does to take the Iraq war off the front page — and remember, it was the war, more than anything else, that propelled Obama’s rise through the Democratic presidential field” this quote is also explains the main point of the article. This quote helps to understand why the choices bush is making now are negatively affecting Obama. Since a main strong point of Obama was the Iraq war and his voice against it, having the war taken out of the picture hurts Obama’s campaign.

 

Non news source

Holbrook, Richard. Foreign Affairs. World history direction Galileo. Sept/Oct 2008 p.2- 24 New York

The book basically goes through what the future president will inherit upon coming into office. The writer never mentions a candidates name in a favoring light and seems to try to keep from showing any bias for any political party. In the selection the writer goes through the various events that have set the stage for the responsibilities that the new president will take on. The author also included what he thought is needed in order for the united states to rise from its present situation. The relevance this book has to my research paper is it specifically talks about the Iraq war. The author goes through what has happened with the war. He explains where it has put us and the author explains what he believes the new president will have to do in order to restore order. The author does speak of both McCain and Obama. He talks about the different approaches both candidate take to certain issues but again he does not show favoritism toward either candidate.

“the next president will inherit a more difficult opening-day set of international problems than any of his predecessors have since at least the end of World War II” this quote reveals one of the main points the author discusses in the book. Much of the selection talks about the issues the incoming president will be confronted with. The author continues the selection by presenting the specific issue the future president will face. One of them being the Iraq war.

“McCain’s boldest proposals are neither new nor original:” this quote is important because it couple with the one that will be presented after this one. This quote shows the approach McCain plans on taking while confronting the problems that will come with being president.

“Obama’s policy proposals–whether on climate change, energy, Africa, Cuba, or Iran–are forward-leaning; he proposes adjusting old and static policies to new and evolving realities.” this quote is important because it shows Obama’s approach to dealing with the issues the united states is facing.

Compare and contrast: both the articles are good sources of information. They are similar in they present the candidates policies. Both selections discuss the effects that current events have on the election and how the candidates respond. There are major differences between the works. The article from the newspaper is written with obvious bias for democrats. The newspaper article is also more current than the book so it includes recent developments. The book was written earlier than the article so it uses only the information that was available to it then. Also the writer of the book was trying not to show too much bias for anything. Though it did come out as leaning a bit toward the democratic candidate.

International source

Stiglitz, Joseph. “the three trillion dollar war” times online. 23 Feb. 2008

This article does not directly mention the election, but it does talk of the Iraq war and gives an idea of how England feels about the war. The information presented helps to show the extent of work the upcoming president will have to contend with when in office. The article is not written lightly which shows how much the writer supports the continuation of the war. The article talks extensively of the cost of the war. It also states how the UK is going to have a difficult time continuing to support the war at the pace it is going now.

“In fact, the Pentagon keeps two sets of books. The first is the official casualty list posted on the DOD website. The second, hard-to-find, set of data is available only on a different website and can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.” this quote sheds some light on how the writer feels about the way America is dealing with the war. This is important because if this is the feeling people though out the UK have toward the war, it show the amount of support they are going to be willing to lend.

“The estimates in our model may be significantly too low if these patterns continue ”

This statement is stating the concluding point of the article. The UK is having a difficult time supporting the costs of the war and don’t want to continue in the engagement.

Domestic source

Ricks, Thomas. “Military Experts Fretful Over Long term consequences.” the Washington post. 29 April 2007.

This article does not mention the election and how it will affect the war but it does speak about the war in the future. The article mainly compares the Iraq war to the Vietnam war pointing out the differences. One of the main points the article discusses is how the Iraq war will more than likely have harsher and longer lasting effects after the war is done. The speakers in the article seem to be reluctant to continue the war because of the damages it will cause to all parties involves.

“many of them to conclude that the long-term effects of the Iraq war will be worse for the United States.” this quote explains one of the main ideas of the article. The article mainly focuses on the idea that the Iraq war long term effects will be detrimental to both the middle east and the united states.

“Some of those making the argument say they already are beginning to see the outlines of an “Iraq syndrome” that will replace the “Vietnam syndrome” that haunted U.S. foreign policy for decades.” this represent the viewpoints some people have on the Iraq war. Several people with the same ideas presented ideas within the article.

Compare and contrast

The two articles are very different both in context and presentation. Both of the articles are about the war but are discussing very different things. The first article discusses the UK’s costs in the war while the second discusses the long term non monetary costs of the war. But both articles have a negative stance on the war. And both articles can be used to help figure out what the war entails for the future. Its good to look at both articles at the same time because they present very different information but allow for a better understanding of what the duration of the war holds.

Conservative source

Curl, Joseph. “McCain Turns Bush on Iraq Surge.” Washington Times. 21 Aug. 2008

This article focus on McCain’s involvement with the war in Iraq. Specifically the article heavily focuses on the surge. The article goes thought the various trips the senator has taken to Iraq. it explains what he has seen there. The article makes it very clear on how the McCain would handle the war if he were put into office. The article also manages Obama and his approach on the war. But mainly the article was informing of McCain’s continued involvement with the war.

 

“As the senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has oversight of military operations and considerable authority in shaping the Defense Department’s budget, Mr. McCain offered blunt advice.” this quote is considerably important because it shows McCain is qualified to make the assessments that he does. This quote backs up what the article is about.

 

“I won’t take credit for the surge.” This is important because it shows the character McCain. It is important to the article because the article is looking to show McCain in a good light. This quote achieves that goal.

“Sen. Barrack Obama, a freshman senator from Illinois, joined his party’s elders to oppose the surge, even after military leaders agreed that it was necessary” this quote is important for several reasons. First it shows Obama’s stance on the war. Second it shows the writers bias. With this quote being negative against Obama it show the writer favors Republicans.

Liberal source

Editorial. Obama and Iraq. The Nation. 16 Jul 2008

The article is about Obama’s view on the Iraq war and how he would deal with it if he were in office. The article discusses the stance Obama has taken on the Iraq war and how he has previously taken a voice against the war. In the article it explains how Obama believe the removal of troops from Iraq will not be as difficult as people say. This article is relative to the research paper because that is the main topic of the paper, how the war will be affected by the election. The article makes it very clear that Obama has full intentions of completely ending the war if he is elected.

““I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, that it was a strategic blunder and that it needs to come to an end,” Obama emphasized, while reiterating his support for a sixteen-month timeline for the withdrawal of combat troops” this quote is important because it plainly states how Obama feels about the war and shows how he would like to deal with it if elected president

“A US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.” This quote is important because it shows Obama has been consistent in his feeling toward the war. He held to his original stance.

Compare and contrast

These two articles were the two most relevant to the topic the research paper will be written on. Both articles discuss the candidates their views on the war and how they plan to deal with it if elected president. Both article are written with bias leaning toward the party of the candidate the article was written about. Both articles were well written and clearly state where the candidates stand on the topic of the war and both relate the candidates stances on the war will be pertinent to the election.