Overcoming The Odds

I read an article about a kid that overcame a tumor.

The story is about Mathew. He was diagnosed with having a tumor in his abdomen just before starting kindergarten. At first his parents thought it was just the flu, but when he started craving foods even though he felt sick and his stomach was swelled they decided to take him into the emergency room. He took medicine to make the tumor smaller, but some of it was still there, so he had to have surgery to remove the rest. After the surgery he had to have a stem cell transplant, which was done by University of Minnesota Children's Hospital Fairview. it worked. The tumor was gone and Mathew is now an eleven year old boy who takes part in acting and sports. He is also thinking about a future in medicine. I think that this story is amazing and not just because he survived. It was really great to hear that he was always optimistic. He never let anyone tell him that he wouldn't survive. As it said in the article "he did not even consider death as a possibility when he was going through his treatment." I think that when someone is in a hard situation like this, their reaction and outlook on it, really show who that person is.

"Mathew O. An inquisitive mind." KS95 for Kids (2009)

Thinking Map

Here are the causes and effects we need on our final thinking map...

Causes:
-corrupt Sudanese government
-people of Darfur are being discriminated against and neglected
-People of Darfur are not getting their fair share of resources
-Khartoum has a militia that is attacking Darfur

Effects:
-hundreds of thousands of people have died
-The population is getting so low, that there are very few people left in Darfur
-Aid workers from other countries who go to help are getting kidnapped and killed (eventually they weren't allowed into Darfur at all)
-The President of Sudan has criminal charges being filed against him and he will most likely have to resign (corrupt government)
-women and children are raped
-lot of malnutrition, which also kills many people

Research post #3

I found a very interesting article that talks about how the war is not onyl affecting the people in Darfur, but also the people that try to help.

In the article it tells the story of how aid workers were kidnapped. The people werre not kidnapped by the governemnt, but by angry citizens. Sudan't government says that they have talked with the kidnappers and that they are discussing ransoms for the release of the aid workers.
-this show sthat not only is the governemnt dangerous to the people, but so are the people. This war has driven people to act to the extreme. War has a very negative affect on people and this situation shows that.


Otterman, Sharon. "Contqact Made With Aid Workers Kidnapped In Darfur." New York Times (2009):

Research Post #2

I read another article about the conflict in Darfur.

The article talks about how the President of Darfur, has commited serious crimes. For example he expelled ten humanitariam groups from Darfur and called for their arrest. I think that this show how the corrupt govenment causecd this conlict to begin and to last for this long.

The government in Darfur isn't helping the situation at all. The President, Omar al-Bashir, is denying all accusations against him and isn't doing anything to stop the genocide grom happening.

The war in Darfur started in 2003, when African tribes rebelled against the government becasue they were being discriminataed and neglected.
-the government in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is mostly Arab.
-"janjaweed Arab militia they support of murdering civilians and preying on them in refugee camps"
-The Arab malitia is adding to the killing. The people in Darfur are in a bad place because they have the military and the governemnt against them, which makes it difficult to defend themselves and to try and stop the war.

The International Crime Court was ordered to investigate Darfur in 2005. They did and that is how the charges against the President came about, but Sudan doesn't accept the court's juristiction.

Corder, Mike. "Wanted For War Crimes: Sudan's President." Reno Gazette-Journal (2009):

Love

I saw this story on the news that was very touching.

The story is about how two men, Ace Bourke and John Rendall, decide to by a baby lion. They got the lion at a department store. They raised Christian, the lion, in the apartment in England. They raised him like he was another pet or child. When Christian got to be too big to live in their apartment, the two men decided to release him into the wild. But, first they had him trained so that he could survive in the wild. After one year of Christian being in the wild, Ace and John, wanted to be reunited with him. As the two men stand waiting for Christian, he arrives and at first is slow to respond. As soon as he knew who the two men were, he immediately went up and hugged them. Imagine having a 500 pound lion come running at you and them hug you. I would be terrified. It was like Christina hadn't been apart from Ace and John. He acted as if he was still living with them. I thought that this story was very touching. It is amazing to see that some bonds, although they might be strange, can last for so long. Most people who don't see someone for a year or so, never speak to the person again, so it was interesting to see that a wild beast and two men could keep that bond. Some bonds can never be broken and this story shows exactly that. I think that it would have been hard to release Christian into the wild because he was like a family member. It was obviously for the best and it worked out, but I could never imagine doing that. Christian hasn't been seen since the reunion, but many think that he migrated to where the game was easier to come by and Christian was he biggest lion that many had ever seen, so if a poacher had killed him, we would have heard him bragging. This is a heart warming story and it is nice to know that some relationships never end.

Celizic, Mike. "Christian the lion's owners recall final farewell." Today Show (2009)

Research Post #1

I read an article on the conflict in Darfur.

While I was reading the article I figured out some of the causes and effects of the conflict.
Causes:
- Sudan government pushing the African tribes to the side
-Khartoum denying the tribes resources
-Khartoum armed Arab tribes, which caused the African tribes to become more aware of them being pushed aside
-2003: three African tribes began an insurgency against the government, demanding a more equal distribution of resources
-Khartoum thought that the best way to deal with this issue was to wipe out the African tribes from rural Darfur

Effects:
-countryside was attacked more than the cities (adult men killed and women and girls raped-small kids and elderly people sometimes killed, but usually were allowed to flee)
-The estimation of the death toll is in the hundreds of thousands, but it is not exact
-the worst of the killing is over, because there aren't that many people left in the rural parts of Darfur

This is just some of the information that I got from the article. It is very helpful.

-Here is the citations for the article:

Kristof, Nicholas. "Answering Your Darfur Questions." New York Times. (2009)

War

I read an article about the war in Iraq.

The article talks about how American intelligence agencies think that the war is increasing the threat of terrorist attacks on the United States. The article states that the war is causing a new generation of Islamic radicalism. I guess I can see how people would come to this conclusion because it isn't like we are a well liked country in many parts of the world right now. This is mostly because of our current status in war activity, but I think that there is another side to this argument. Threats of terrorist attacks may be getting more frequent, but who says that this wouldn't have happened if we didn't go to war. If we didn't go to war, many more attacks like 9/11 could have happened. Just because we went to war, doesn't mean that it caused more terrorist groups to form. No one knows what would have happened if we wouldn't have gone to war, but I think that we would be having the same problems that we are having now. Sometimes when someone tries to fix a problem; things only get worse, but if you don't do anything to solve the problem; more problems are going to build of of that original issue.

Mazzetti, Mark. "Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threats." New York Times. (2006

Imperialism

I read an article about cultural imperialism.
The article talked about how much the American culture has on the rest of the world. The article gives examples of Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, and American rock music in other parts of the world. The United States has a big influence on the rest of the world because of the power that it holds. The U.S. has been a very successful country, even though it may not seem that way right now, but it has gained credibility from that success. This country has broken free from Britain, lived through the Civil War(along with other wars), and survived the Great Depression. Because this country has so many stories of success, many other countries listen to us. Our culture is always changing and those aspects of our culture that are extraordinary or are popular, make their way to other parts of the world. I think that it is interesting how the American culture has influenced other cultures. Other countries have many different rituals and aspects to their culture, but they still make room for the ideas and inventions of the United States. I hope that our culture doesn't influence other countries too much because then everyone might start to blend together. We have different countries because people have different cultures and if everyone has the same culture, the world would not function correctly.

To the Editor, "Smiling Through the Cultural Imperialism." New York Times. (1989

Global Issue

Today I read an article about global warming.

In the article it talked about how recently there has been a rise in global emissions and a decline in energy efficiency. It also talks about how the caps on the pollution of greenhouse gases are not going to help. well they are, but many say that the positive effects will come too late. The economist, Jeffrey D. Sachs, thinks that if we try to restrain emissions without a new set of technologies, we will hurt our economy. With as bad as the economy is right now, I don't think our country can take that risk. If the stock market takes another big hit, who knows what could happen. With the car companies already on edge, I don't think that we need to add this on to our plate. Sachs says that what we need to to develop a radically advanced low-carbon technology. This may work, but the funding would have to come from the government. That only means one thing. Higher taxes and our president promised no tax raises for anyone making less than $250,000 per year. That would mean raising taxes even more for that 5% of people that do earn more then $250,000 per year. Global warming is a big issue, even though it might seem that in Minnesota with our 40 below days that global warming isn't happening. This is going to take a long time to figure out a solution, but we don't have that much time until it is too late.

Revkin, Andrew D.. "A Shift in the Debate Over Global Warming." New York Times. (2008)

Holiday

I read an article about Halloween today.
The article was about how recently kids have not been trick-or-treating. Instead they have been trunk-or-treating. The kids go around to peoples cars instead of going around to houses. Suburban communities are starting to do this. The parents are really happy about this because it takes way the risk factor of trick-or-treating. The kids are getting candy in a safe place like a church parking lot or somewhere their parents ca watch them. This way the kids don't have to deal with older kids playing tricks or people that could want to hurt them. I think that this is an interesting idea. It is definitely safer for younger children and it is helpful because little kids get tires from walking around. If they are just walking around a parking lot, they won get as tired and of they do t get tired the can just get in their car and go home. This way of trick-or-treating is very beneficial to little kids and their parents because it is much safer and more convenient for everyone.

Santos, Fernanda. "Trunk or Treat! Halloween Tailgating Grows." New York Times. (2006

Bollywood

I read an article about Bollywood.
"Why do I love Bollywood movies? To an Indian, that's like asking why we love our mothers; we don't have a choice. We were born of them." This quote really stuck out at me. It really shows how Bollywood movies are such a big part of the culture in India. Bollywood movies have been so successful that they have out shined Hollywood. People all over the world watch Bollywood movies and they love them. In the article it tells the story about a man who was getting mugged and instead of screaming for help, he started singing a line from a Bollywood movie "Ichak dana bichak dana, . . . " People often enjoy Bollywood movies because they are musicals. It appeals to many people. With five to fourteen songs in each movie, each movie is different and enjoyable. In the article it also talks about how when people go to movies in India, especially in Mumbai, people talk back to the screen. Here in America and many other places in the world, when people talk in movies it is just irritating. It was interesting to learn that talking back to the movie is normal. In India, the songs from the movies stick with people. They use the lyrics as part of their vocabulary. I thought that this article was very interesting. It was interesting to here about how important Bollywood movies are to the Indian culture.