HW 35: Letter to My Blog Reader(s)

I signed up for ITW 101 A Blog of One’s Own as a freshman at Keene State College. I went into the class assuming it would be women activists yelling at me for the entire class, and then I would write about it in my blog. However, after the class, I feel I have learned a lot and I am glad I took the class. I have learned from my blog that blogs are pretty interesting. Anyone can read them and anyone can respond. I like that aspect. Completing homework assignments made me a better writer and thinker, and I became better at interpreting information. I hope any one who views my blog will find that I have some interesting things to say about subjects such as blogs, women’s literature, and Iraq. I think my best blog posts were from the Citizenship Symposium. I sometimes found it challenging to complete assignments, but these two posts I enjoyed and I -think they were well-written. After the class is over, I don’t plan on continuing my blog. Honestly, blogs are interesting but I have other priorities right now. I don’t think I will delete it though, in hopes that a company will read them and sign me to a big contract. Just kidding that won’t happen. For all, if any, readers of my blog, I hope you enjoyed what I’ve had to say over the last few months.

HW 34: Gold and Date Palms

In Iraq, gold is very valuable to the citizens. Riverbend says that this is due to the value of the Iraqi Dinar, equivalent to $3 in the United States (Riverbend 100). The Dinar kept fluctuating over time, so many Iraqis invested in gold instead, because of the fact that the value of gold doesn’t change. Many Iraqis own gold so that their savings don’t decrease over time. Iraqis have many other purposes for gold as well. Gold is given to newlywed couples as a gift, and can also be given for newborn babies. The family receiving the gold is allowed to sell it if they need the money, or they can keep it for the child someday. This is very different than in the United States. At a baby shower, you wouldn’t give someone an expensive gift so they can sell it for money. I found that interesting and the Iraqi people seem kind in this way. Date palms in Iraq serve as almost a haven for the people. It is a small paradise. “Just seeing the orchards brings a sort of peace (Riverbend 103). The orchards are green and welcoming, and it is a much better site for the Iraqis to see than tanks, guns, and blood. Also, in the winter months many exotic birds flock to the trees for shelter and food. It seems like a very relaxing area to be around.

Oops

Tracy, I forgot to use citations so the most recent HW 34 post is my official homework, not the previous, sorry.

HW 34: Gold and Date Palms

In Iraq, gold is very valuable to the citizens. Riverbend says that this is due to the value of the Iraqi Dinar, equivalent to $3 in the United States. The Dinar kept fluctuating over time, so many Iraqis invested in gold instead, because of the fact that the value of gold doesn’t change. Many Iraqis own gold so that their savings don’t decrease over time. Iraqis have many other purposes for gold as well. Gold is given to newlywed couples as a gift, and can also be given for newborn babies. The family receiving the gold is allowed to sell it if they need the money, or they can keep it for the child someday. This is very different than in the United States. At a baby shower, you wouldn’t give someone an expensive gift so they can sell it for money. I found that interesting and the Iraqi people seem kind in this way. Date palms in Iraq serve as almost a haven for the people. It is a small paradise. The orchards are green and welcoming, and it is a much better site for the Iraqis to see than tanks, guns, and blood. Also, in the winter months many exotic birds flock to the trees for shelter and food. It seems like a very relaxing area to be around.

HW 33: Respond to a Podcast

The title of the pod cast I viewed was Syria: Child Artist Dreams of Return to Baghdad. It is a part of the series called “Alive in Baghdad.” It was published on August 20th, 2007 and you can view it at http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/08/20/syria-child-artist-dreams-of-return-to-iraq/. The pod cast is about a middle school student, Sameer Muhammad, and his passion for art. His father, Muhammad Rubaie, appears in the pod cast and he says that though his son is in middle school, his artwork is comparable to a art student in college. Muhammad Rubaie seems like a typical father. He is proud of his son. He actually kind of appears to look like a typical American, rather than an Iraqi. He wore a black shirt, with some jewelry, and had long hair. He did not resemble a typical Iraqi, which was surprising, and refreshing. Sameer’s drawings are of ancient Iraq, filled with straw houses and ovens for bread. I’m not an expert in the field, but I think his work is very good. A viewer might learn that Iraqi’s aren’t AK-47 kamikazes who wear turbans and chant prayers every 15 minutes. We learn that these people are just like us. They have interests and hobbies and enjoy what they do. Compared with other videos about Iraq, this video is calming and refreshing. It’s memorable because I realized that Iraq’s are really decent people, like most Americans.

HW 32: Summary of Aquila Al-Hashimi

After reading Riverbends post from Sept. 19th to Oct. 5th, 2003, I found Aquila Al-Hashimi the most intriguing story. Al-Hashimi is a women who was attacked on September 20th 2003. Riverbend says that she was attacked while she was heading off to work. Her and her brothers were ambushed. She was wounded all over her body, but mainly her stomach and shoulder area. She was taken to the hospital because she was in a very critical state. They brought her to the Al-Yarmuk hospital. She was involved with many foreign affairs for Iraq. However, the gang that attacked her wasn't known. Al-Chalabi decided to investigate the ambush more, but his agenda influenced him another way. He believed that the attackers were members from Saddam Hussein and his group. It is assumed that Al-Hashimi was attacked because of the fact that she was a prominent and powerful women. Many of her male colleagues did not approve of her. Unfortunately, the assassins were never discovered, and no arrest could be made. This is a sad situation for everyone involved. If I was Al-Hashimi, I would be furious because my government could not catch my killers. And if I was Al-Chalabi I would be embarrassed and upset that I could not find a solution to the tragic problem.

HW 31: Al-Qaeda

After reading Bagdad Burning, pages 41-69, I wanted to find more information on Al-Qaeda. It appears on p. 57 of the book. According to Wikipedia, Al-Qaeda “is an international alliance of Islamic militant organizations founded in 1988[4] by Osama bin Laden and other veteran "Afghan Arabs" after the Soviet War in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda has attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, the most notable being the September 11, 2001 attacks that occurred in New York City and Northern Virginia. These actions were followed by the U.S. government launching a military and intelligence campaign against al-Qaeda called "War on Terror.” Al-Qaeda deals with the reading in that Riverbend says that Iraq had little or no involvement with the terrorist group. I’m interested in the group because I think they are the scum of the earth. We have conspirators, anti-war hippies, and liberals trying to convince everyone that Bush destroyed the Twin Towers. In my mind, this is ridiculous, mainly because the man isn’t smart enough, point blank. Terrorists are the true enemies of our country, not our leaders.

Works Cited

Riverbend. 2005. Bagdad Burning. p57

www.wikipedia.org

HW 30: Are All Citizens Publishers and Reporters?

On Friday, November 9th, I attended the Keene State College Citizenship Symposium in the Redfern Arts Center. The session was called “Blogging: Are All Citizens Publishers and Reporters?” The session included Blue Hampshire blogger Michael Caulfield, Keene Sentinel Editor Jim Rousmaniere, and Emile Netzhammer. Sadly, Laura Clawson from the Daily Kos blog did not attend. Unlike the previous session I attended, this session was mainly a discussion. Audience members would ask questions to the speakers, who would take turn answering back. I think the discussion would have much more effective if we were in a smaller area. The main theatre probably holds near a thousand people if I were to guess, but the session only had about forty people attend. Emile Netzhammer opened the session with a technology example of an iPhone he saw on an airplane. This somehow created a segway into the discussion about citizen publishers. The question of should citizens publishers be held accountable for what they publish. In other words, should plagiarism, authenticity, and everything else an author of a book or newspaper goes through be expected from citizen reporters, aka bloggers? The definitive answer given from the panel was “yes, they should.” I tend to disagree with this. I disagree because of the fact that online web logs, known as blogs, are journals that are read by the public. They can be diaries of personal information. One shouldn’t be held accountable because the are writing about their day and use a quote from a movie to describe it without citing the movie. Also, there are 40,000 new blogs every day. Honesty and integrity of work is great, but who is going to sift each blog every day. It simply would take too much time. Blogs aren’t formal, so I think they should not be compared to academic forms of writing. One of the discussion questions that I found most interesting was from a student from the College. She asked where she should find her information, if all the media news is corrupt, such as CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Michael Caulfield summed it up nicely with this remark. “Honestly, if we were to lose the national media for news, I do not think we would be less informed.” I completely agree with Caulfield on this. We talk in the ITW class often about how the media has biases and agendas, and they do not inform us on what’s really important. Every day I turn on Fox News, I see Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears getting arrested. I do not care about this. If all the news agencies were somehow destroyed, we as Americans would not be hurt in any way.

HW 30: Animation as Political and Social Constructions

“Animation as Political and Social Constructions” was the session on Thursday that I attended. It featured Keene State College professors Jiwon Ahn, Sander Lee, and Mark Timney. The session was about how animation, such as drawings, pictures, or any art work for that matter, influences our lives. All three guest speakers spoke on this subject, but they all used different examples. Ahn, a Japanese woman, spoke about her country’s hobby of anime art. Anime art is a type of art form that usually depicts young innocent women in different situations. All of the characters in anime have large eyes, making them appear worried. Ahn showed examples of anime, and they were a little disturbing. Almost of all of the pictures were of young naked women, with some sort of danger around them. One picture was of a girl’s nipples bleeding, and I was surprised to see it. It’s interesting to relate this to women’s empowerment because in much of anime, the woman is looked down upon. Men are the superior and women are often seen crying or in danger.
Sander Lee had some good things to say as well, focusing on how Disney and Warner Brothers created Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny cartoons to create hate toward the Nazi’s during World War II. He pointed out subtle messages which I would never have thought of. Sander, a philosophy professor here at KSC, made it obvious that he felt strongly about philosophy. When showing his movie clips, he prayed aloud that it would work, saying “Please God, I hope this works.” I thought it was comical.
The most interesting speaker, however, had to have been Mark Timney. He argued that Comedy Central’s South Park show was a very influencing animation for many people. I had only seen bits and parts of the show, and I didn’t think it was funny. However, South Park’s real goal is to show satire in our government and world today. He played a short clip, and afterwards I believed that the show had some good qualities after all.

HW 28: An Open Letter to Riverbend

Dear Riverbend,
I am an eighteen-year old freshman at Keene State College in Keene, NH. It’s a small, everyday American town. I’ve been reading your blogs, specifically your older ones in 2003 and I find them very interesting. I can only imagine what life must have been like and still is like today. I never understood how bad the living conditions actually were. However, after carefully reading your blog from August 28th, 2003, I felt a little offended. You imply that most Americans are ignorant and do not see what you see in Iraq. You say that we think of turban-wearing teachers, brown tents, dirt roads, and many other stereotypes when thinking about your country. However, I would bet that you make the same assumptions about the United States. You probably assume we are all addicted to fast food, sex, and drugs. We all drive SUV’s and have million dollar houses. That is not the case, as with the same in yours. Yes, we as a country on the whole, tend to kid and joke about the stereotypical Iraqi, but I don’t believe we should be held responsible. In many of your posts, you bash the news and media for giving the wrong impression about your people. In this aspect, I agree to the fullest extent. You hit the nail on the head when making this assumption. American citizens can’t fly to your country and experience life there in the first hand. We are forced to trust the media, news, and government about the actions in Iraq. I’m sorry you have strong feelings about this, but I want to try and defend myself. If you are to blame anyone, single out the media, not the American people. Other than that, I love reading your posts and trying to view life the way you see it. I find it enjoyable and I have the utmost respect for you.