Tom’s Blog

Proper citation for related news article:

“Bombings leave many dead in Iraq” http://news.bbc.co.uk/. 13 May, 2007. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6651159.stm> (15 May,2007).

Link to Zaira’s news article:

“16 Killed by Female Bomber in Iraq.” ABC News. 2007. 11 Apr. 2007      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3025377. 

Link to Zaira’s blog: http://zaira25.learnerblogs.org/

Picture of the event cannot be shown. See in article itself.

Map of the location:

http://www.math.wisc.edu/~gomez/m473/f06/Handouts/middle_east.jpghttp://www.math.wisc.edu/~gomez/m473/f06/Handouts/middle_east.jp

1. How are the two events connected?

Both events deal with suicide bombers in Iraq. This kind of bombings is kind of a daily activity now in Iraq. Suicide bombers think that there is no more hope for Iraq and themselves and that makes them think that killing themselves and killing lots of people would be the solution. However, it is the problem, because thanks to these suicide bombers, other people lose hope.

2. What did I find interesting about this topic?

I found it interesting that ordinary people will kill themselves to kill others. I think people who become suicide bombers are willing to die for their beliefs, but this isn’t a good solution. They should instead talk with the political leaders and try to solve problems without killing themselves. Or other innocent people!

3. What did you like about the initial blog?

It was very informative without having too many facts or becoming boring. She was creative with her word choices. Her blog was easy to understand. I felt Zaira did a very good job.

1. Reflection on the various presentations.

My classmates did interviews on the following Renaissance persons: * Leonardo da Vinci

* Marco Polo

* King Henry the Eight

* Martin Luther

* Miguel de Cervantes

* Queen Elizabeth the First.

I learned many new interesting facts about these Renaissance persons from my classmates interviews. For instance, on Leonardo da Vinci, I learned that he hated wars, studied astronomy and that he left Italy for ever in 1506 and died in 1509 in France.

On Marco Polo the only information I heard which was new to me was that Marco Polo was born in Venice.

Some information I heard about King Henry the Eighth was that he liked his third wife the most, and that he changed the way the church was organized in England by declaring himself the leader of the church instead of the Pope.

About Martin Luther I learned that he was born in Germany, that he was a great speaker and that he criticized the Catholic Church for not doing its true job well. They were only interested in money and power instead of the true meaning of the Church.

What I learned about Miguel de Cervantes is that he started as a slave and that he was a great storyteller who touched the hearts of a lot of people. He wrote many books, but the most famous is his one about Don Quichote.

Finally, I learned some interesting things about Queen Elizabeth the First. I learned that she was not the tyrant I thought she was, and that she was actually a very good queen who ruled over her kingdom carefully. What I also learned was that Queen Elizabeth became queen by saying that her sister Mary (who was the actual queen) was a tyrant and would lead England to its doom.

What I found interesting about all the interviews, was that many people were embarrassed by their interview, while it was just perfectly fine.

2. What would I change to improve my own interview/presentation, if I were to do the assignment again?

After listening to all the interviews of my classmates, I would make a few changes in my interview as well. These changes include: * Make more questions, because it was shorter than some other interviews that I heard.

* At one point I did ehh for a while, and I wanted to change that, however, it was too late.

* I would speak in a deeper voice, because my voice was pretty bad and sounded like a girl.

But I’m still satisfied with the way I did the interview. I wanted to show Michelangelo as a person who thinks highly of himself (maybe even a bit arrogant).

This paragraph is about one of the most famous artists in history: Michelangelo Buonarroti. He lived in the time of the Renaissance and was a sculptor, a painter, an architect, an engineer and a poet. A real Renaissance person!

Michelangelo was born in Capprese on March 6, 1475 and died February 18, 1564 at the age of 88. Although his father, a respected government official, didn’t want him to become an artist, he became an apprentice of the famed artist Domenico Ghirlandaro. After his apprenticeship he went to a school set up by Lorenzo the Magnificent. Lorenzo De Medici family ruled the city of Florence and were very powerful and rich. Lorenzo encouraged many artist like Michelangelo and also supported them with money.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Michelango_Portrait_by_Volterra.jpg Two of Michelangelo’s most famous sculptures are the David and the Pietà. Michelangelo lived in Rome from 1496 till 1501. There, he started working on the Pietà in 1498 and finished it in 1499. The Pietà is a marble statue of about 1.70 meters high and 2 meters wide and shows the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. This theme is of Northern origin, popular in France, but not yet in Italy. This was a style that Michelangelo really loved. The statue is one of the most highly finished works by Michelangelo and can be found in the St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican city.

http://www.univirtual.it/corsi%20V%20ciclo/II%20sem%20IND/galesso/download/Immagini%20SSIS%202004/A4%202003/3MichelangeloPietàVaticana.jpg When Michelangelo returned to Florence, he sculpted the David in the years 1501 till 1504. The David is one of Michelangelo’s most famous art works ever. The David was made out of Carrara Marble in Florence. It is something like 5.10 meters high and was and is still an amazing sight to see for people. It holds the title of the most recognizable statue in the history of art. It has become regarded as a symbol both of strength and youthful human beauty. The statue portrays Biblical King David at the moment that he decides to do battle with Goliath.

http://www.world-mysteries.com/david.jpg Another famous masterpiece of Michelangelo is his ceiling paintings in the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo moved back to Rome where he worked for Pope Julius II, who had him decorate the ceiling of a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. It took him 4 years (1508 - 1512) to paint this masterpiece.

http://www.wga.hu/art/m/michelan/3sistina/1chapel.jpg Michelangelo was definitely one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, and he will be remembered for some of the most beautiful pieces of art ever created!

Interview:  interview-with-michelangelo.mp3

  Resources: 

• Proper citation format:

Kaur, Minderjeet.”Will Malaysia be arid like Africa?” http://www.nst.com.my/. 3/05/2007. <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/20070503072552/Article/index_html> (3/05/07).

•   Link to news article:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/20070503072552/Article/index_html

• Picture of Event:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/20070503072159/Article/index_html

• Map of Location

http://kids.mapzones.com/world/malaysia/

1.)   What is the issue?

The issue is that like all other countries in the world, Malaysia is going to be seriously affected by the effects of global warming. Many scientists are sounding the alarm and are telling people to be careful with global warming and to change behavior.

2.) Who is involved?

Everybody in the world is involved because global warming is affecting our whole world. This article however is about Malaysia, so the people involved are all Malaysians, now but also in the future.

3.) Who is affected and how?

Everybody in the world is affected, but this article deals about the effects for Malaysia:

•-      For the next 20 years there will be more heat waves, floods, costlier food, water shortages and more diseases.

•-      Malaysia could turn into an arid state like Africa.

•-      1,200 sq km of coastline will be under water.

•-      Higher temperatures will cause prolonged drought and intense floods.

•-      Prices of food will be much higher.

•-      There will be stronger winds (typhoons).

•-      Farmers will suffer and agricultural yield is likely to be reduced.

4.) What would I do if I were directly involved?

Actually, I am directly involved. And so are you! So what can we do to help:

•-      Recycle, Reduce and Reuse!

•-      Don’t use too much electricity! So, turn off the computer or the TV, once you’re done with it. Don’t turn on the air-conditioning all the time.

•-      Don’t use the car all the time!

•-      Don’t spoil drinking water!

•-      Don’t buy things you don’t need!

If we all do these things, then the earth will be a lot better place to live in. And not only to humans but also for all animals and plants which will lose their environment if global warming continues like it does now.

At the end of the 15th century, people in Europe began to develop new ideas about the world. They started investigating and doing experiments instead of just accepting existing ideas. This time became known as “Renaissance”, which is French for rebirth or revival.

A “Renaissance person” is somebody who has a wide range of knowledge or skills. I think that Leonardo da Vinci is probably the best example of a “Renaissance person” as he was one of the greatest men of the Renaissance. He had extensive knowledge on various subjects and had tremendous skills in many things and I am really inspired with the accomplishments he made.

He was a painter, a scholar of medicine and mathematics and a very talented inventor. In one word he was a genius.

As a painter, he made beautiful paintings like the Mona Lisa, The Baptism of Christ, and the Annunciation.

As a scholar in medicine he made very accurate drawings of plants, animals and the human body. Actually, he was one of the first people to cut into death bodies for research.

He was also a great inventor who really thought more ahead than other people of his time. He made a lot of sketches on all kinds of machinery. He also thought a lot about making a flying machine. He designed the “ornithopter”, which he worked out by watching birds. Most of his inventions would have worked, but not his o so famous flying machine. However he made a hang glider which he tested on January 3, 1496 and it really worked.

Having said all this, I conclude that Leonardo da Vinci is definitely a “Renaissance person” and even today he is considered a real genius!

http://www.hschamberlain.net/kant/leonardo.jpg

Citation for news article:Scanlon, Charles. “The end of a long confrontation?” BBC News. 13 February 2007. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6357853.stm> (11 March 2007)Link to news article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6357853.stm

Map of location: 

Picture Citation:http://www.theodora.com/maps/new9/north_korea_map.gif

What new information has emerged?

What has emerged now, is that America has finally made their decision. Their decision is, that they shall give protection to North Korea, if they are not going to use their nuclear weapons. North Korea is happy with it, because not only they get protection, but also they will get lots of oil. It is still unknown what they are going to do with the oil.

What did you find interesting about the topic?

I thought it was an interesting article, because North Korea is a country with a lot of trouble. Now they want to use other countries to help them. It is interesting that North Korea has so many nuclear weapons which could do much harm to the world. America and other countries are going to stop that by giving protection to North Korea.

What did you like about the initial blog posting ?

I liked that America and the other countries had decided that they will protect North Korea, so that they won’t make nuclear weapons anymore. I found it interesting that this conversation is already very old and that it is finally over. The last thing I found interesting was that so many countries were involved in this, and that were some of the most powerful countries in the world.

There are still people who give up their lives for the things they believe in. One example I saw when I was in Vietnam during the Christmas break. We were in a temple in Hue, the Linh-Mu Pagoda. There we saw pictures and the car of a Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in protest against the Diem government. That happened on June 11 in 1963.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/pacificaviet/monk.jpg

But also now in 2007 we see news were people give up their live, as I also just posted my current event. There somebody used a truck full of  bombs to kill many  people, but he himself was also killed in doing so. He gave his life, because he thinks his religion is a better religion than that of the people he killed.

Deaths as Maliki hails crackdown , BBC.CO.UK , BBC News , Saturday, 24 February 2007, 19:43 GMT

25 Feb. 2007

Link to news article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6393127.stm

http://www.theodora.com/maps/new8/middle_east.jpg

What is the issue?

In Iraq, various religious groups are killing eachother. Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, had installed a new Security Plan 10 days ago to avoid these kind of murders. However, yesterday a truck bomb exploded as worshippers left the mosque in Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad. At least 42 people have died and more than 60 are hurt. It is still unknown who did this, but the American government said they didn’t do it and that they will try to find out who really did it.

Who is involved?

The religious groups of Iraq are involved, because they are throwing bombs and using other kinds of weapons against each other.

The Iraqi government is involved, because they have to do something about the problems between the various religious groups.

The American government and military is involved, because they are trying a peace-keeping mission in Iraq and try to find who did it.

Who is affected and how?

 In the article they give some statistics about the effects of the religious war between the various groups in Iraq:

* 62,473 families displaced by sectarian conflict in last year (source: IOM)

* At least 56,000 civilians killed since 2003 (source: IBC)

* More than 3,400 coalition military deaths since March 2003

So, all the people of Iraq are involved, because a lot of people don’t feel safe anymore.

Also, various other nations of the world are affected, because the military coalition is made up of a lot of countries.

What would you do if you were directly involved?

I would ask the Iraqi government if they could protect the mosques better, because then they could prevent such attacks.

The best solution would be if people would be more understanding of what somebody else believes. They should respect each others religious beliefs. If there is more respect, then Iraq would be a much safer place. Now, nobody trusts each other and that should change because that would be the best for Iraq and its people.

Religion was very important in the Middle Ages and I am going to tell about that. The Middle Ages had 3 religions Christianity, Judaism and last but not least the Islam. They had people called monks who gave up their normal lives to live in a momastery where they could pray in peace for God and his son Jesus Christ. There were persons called Friars who traveled around helping the sick and the poor just all for their religion. Religion was so important that people in the Middle Ages paid 1/10 of their money or gifts to the church. However, sometimes they went a bit too far with the religion and believed so much that they thought that some people were witches because they didn’t believed in God. This is what I learned about the religion in the Middle Ages and I hope my classmates learned as much as I did.

I have learned many things about the Middle Ages in the two lessons of Social Studies we had. We started with a joyful sounding poem (Ring around the Rosies), but it turned out to be everything but joyful. The poem is actually about the Plague, which killed many people all over Europe during the Middle Ages. The people had nothing to protect themselves from the Plague. They did not know what caused the disease and thought it was a punishment from God, but it were the fleas that bit people. Nobody could stop the disease, but eventually it stopped by itself.

I also learned that the Middle Ages started when the Roman Empire fell apart. But other Empires bloomed, like the Byzantium and the Arabian Empire.

We also learned about the Crusades. Several times European Crusaders tried to reach the Holy City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a Holy city for Christians, Moslims and Jews. In the Middle Ages Christians from Europe tried a few times to go to Jerusalem to free the city from the Moslims. They never succeeded. There were also two children crusades. I found that very interesting because I have read a book by a famous Dutch writer (Thea Beckman) about a childrens crusade. The book is called “Crusade in Jeans”. Last year they made a movie off it and I’m looking forward to see it this summer.