Pros and Cons of Colonization

GOOD

• New technology
• New jobs
• Found new resources
• brought new religion
• Better farming methods
  
• universal language
• Trade routs
• roads
• health care
• curing sicknesses
  

BAD

• Enslaved people
• Destroyed culture
• Killed people
• made the people poor
• took resources
  
• made country borders that brought wars
  

Central Africa Story 3

The UN has decided to send more than 3000 troops into the C as peace keepers. They will try to settle down the Rebel forces. This happended yesterday, November 20, 08' This has mainly occured because on the 19th, Congo militia opened fired on the UN forces. The UN decided that the increase in violence would have to be stopped.

This is important because it will involve a lot of people. It is also rare for the UN to unanimously decide to sent that many troops into such a dangerous area. It is also important because this happened 10 hours ago so the information is very relevant.


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/20/congo.un.troops/index.html?iref=newssearch

Central Africa Today

Since their independence, many Central African countries now face many political, environmental, and health issues. Many countries there have had civil wars due to political instability. Tribal wars are now more common do to the change in political boundaries. These wars cause poverty and inflation. Because of this, most of the people here make a living off of subsistence farming. These countries do however have a large potential with valuable resources such as gold, copper, cobalt, diamonds, and oil. Corrupt leaders, such as Joseph Motubu kept a lot of money meant for public projects and used military force against people who oppressed them. Other factors such as disease and malnutrition caused by corruption and food shortage further increase the problem. In the future, this will hopefully change due to discoveries of mineral deposits that could help the economy there.

The History and Culture of Central Africa

Around 2000 years ago, people began to come from Western Africa to Central Africa. Since then, there have been dramatic changes in their culture due to the European powers. Around 1000 years later, the Kongo Kingdom was started. They started trade routs that brought new technology to the rest of Africa. In the late 1400s, Europeans began to explore the Central African region. They began to purchase slaves to bring to the New World and ivory to sell in Europe. Their presence changed culture alot in this region. Now about 86% of the population here is Christian due to the European powers. The languages have changed alot to. The official language of Anlgola is Portuguese due to the Portuguese presence and the official language of Zambia and Malawi is English. Even the Democratic Republic of the Congo has the official language of French. As you can see, the culture of Central Africa has changed greatly from 1000 years ago.


http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/1/1b/350px-ColonialAfrica_1914.svg.png

Footprint

The cartoon shows how big of an impact/footprint the Europeans made on Africa. I think that the a was not in favor of the colonization. If they were in favor, that would not have made the print so big or in black and white. The bigness and the black and white make the foot look even bigger and look more sinister. To make the cartoon better, the author might consider adding a short caption.

The Scramble for Africa

The strategy we mostly used was bargaining. We would ask Belgium haters for land that we needed and in return, we would attack Belgium every turn and give conquered land to the people whose land we took. This worked quite well and it protected us from the bigger countries who were trying to take our land. We had to take into consideration. First, we would claim land that would have at least two of our resources. We traded alot and fought alot for land in Botswana and Zambia because it had all three of our resources. Then we considered how much each place was worth. We thought that Zambia was worth the most so we tried to get as much land there as possible. On the other hand, Rwanda and Uganda was almost worthless to us and we were always trying to trade it. I think that Portugal won because they got all of the resources that they needed. I think that the looser was a tie between Britain and Spain. Britain because they only got half of the Suez, they didn't get Petrol or Iron and they did a bad job killing off the French. The Spanish because they only got Copper and almost no other resources. 

Zambia Election Story

Zambia just voted in a new president, Rupiah Banda. This applies to the president and the people of Zambia. What happened was Zambia just voted in a president who promises to help fight poverty, to campaign against corruption, and to keep supporting the free market. This happened in Zambia on November 2, because the previous president died.

This is important because it affects so many people. It shows progression that the Zambians were able to vote for a president who vows to do many positive things. This only happened 11 days ago and it is of great interest to the people of that area. It is also rare for an election to occur.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/2/zambia.election.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

Central africa's Physical Features

The physical features of Central Africa include large rivers, lush rain forests, and some of the highest mountains in Africa. The main physical features here are the Congo Basin, the Congo River, and the Zambezi River. Due to the climate, much of Central Africa is occupied by the large, dense, tropical forests of the Congo Basin. A resource that is vital to this part of Africa's economy is copper, which is mostly found in a large strip, known as the Copper Belt, that stretches from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all the way down to northern Zambia. All of these features are necessary for life in this part of Africa.

The Truthfulness of Lester

I think that what Lester is saying can be trusted because he has interviewed a ton of people.He has also interviewed people in different position so the story isn't totally one sided. This is showed on pg. 51 when he also said that slve trading could be a happy time. Julius Lester was Jewish and it is against his religeon to lie. Also, he was a peace activist. Being so involved would give him no reason to not want to tell the truth. Also, as a photographer, his pictures can backup what he is saying. This is why I think Lester's work can be trusted.

Democratic Republic of the Congo Story

Who-UN forces, Rebels, Congolese refugees.
What-Up to a million refugees had to flee their homes
When- October 28, 08
Where-Democratic Republic of the Congo
Why- The rebels are advancing.

This news story is important because up to a million people will have to leave their homes. It is also important because with the rebels advancing, violence is soon to come. The UN is also going to have a hard time trying to bring peace to people who do not want to be peaceful. This conflict also has a very large magnitude and is affecting much of Central Africa. It is also relevant because this event only happened about a week and a half ago.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/28/congo.fighting/index.html#cnnSTCText

The Five Themes

The movement in this picture could be the snow being blown off of the mountain. The building' weren't always there and the materials had to be moved there.
The region is temperate because of the mountain and the pines. The sky is also quite cloudy and it is probably cold.
The human environment is the people haven't cut down the trees and now they get the title of largest forest in the United Stated that is within city limits. They also get oxygen from it.
The location is behind Forest Park and in front of Mt. Hood. It is Downtown Portland, Oregon, USA.
The place is Forest Park, Mt. Hood, and Big Pink.

Does Violence Lead to More Violence???

I think that it does. In Julius Caesar, Caesar killed Pompeii. Then the supporters of Pompeii ganged up to kill Caesar in Act 3. So Antony gets mad (Act 3 still) and kills off the people who killed Caesar(act 4 and 5). This is supported in WWII when people slowly joined the war when other people were violent to them. One example is when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor so the United States bombed them back with nuclear weapons. A lot of this is an eye for an eye. If one person/nation/faction is violent, then the people they were violent to feel that they need revenge so they fight back. Then that can go back and forth for a very long time. An even more modern event that supports that is the U.S.'s war with Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Somebody destroyed the twin towers so the U.S. goes and kills of evil dictator Sadam Husain and alot of other Middle Easterners so they fight back too.

If I Were Brutus

I think that if I were Brutus, I would think that the good of Rome would be more important than one of my fiends. If Caesar was emperor, then the only one happy would be himself. If I were head of the senate, I could make most of Rome happy. After all why is he so important that he gets to be emperor. After all, as Cassius told me (1:2:143-171), he is no more important than me. Besides, from what Cassius tells me (1:2:98-139), Caesar is a weakling and when he was younger, Cassius had to save his life more than once. Finally, his wife as well as Caesar are quite superstitious. What we don't need is a terrified leader who believes too many stories or is easily influenced by them.

Imperialism

Through imperialism, European powers conquered S.E. Asia, Africa, and the Middle east for a variety of different reasons and by different means. The main motives were resources such as cotton, valuable metals and diamonds, slaves, and exotic spices and foods. Other motives include trying to convert the natives to the Europeans religions, mostly Roman Catholic, and the need for power and glory. The two main ways of conquering the lesser powers were buy buying them out and violence. Buying them out meant making trade agreements that gave the Europeans power and wealth in the area or buying the country away from the local people. The other method, violence meant taking the less powerful regions by sheer military force. In the Middle East, land and resource were generally accumulate through trade agreement and buying countries out of debt in return for power and resources.However the same is not true for most of Africa and S.E. Asia. In these regions, force was generally used to conquer the countries and acquire their land and resources. Finally, there were results and changes due to the control of the weaker countries. Many countries that were conquered suffered from lack of food,lack of tradeable goods, and slavery due to the European powers sucking them dry of these necessities.

Goals, Goals, Goals

I think that I met my reading goal quite well. My goal was to get more than the required amount of AR points because I know that I can get more. I met this goal because I got more than 18 points and I read quite a few books that weren't on the AR list.
My second goal was to spend more time on my homework because I tend to get points off for careless mistakes. I sort of met my goal because I did spend more time on my homework. However, it was not as much as I had envisioned.

My first goal for the 2nd quarter is to spend more time on my homework because I tend to get points off for careless mistakes. I think that I still need to work on this goal just a bit more.
My second goal for the second quarter is to study for tests because I never study and I think that studying for ten minutes everyday starting a week before a test could help my grades.
My third goal is to prepare for at least 20 minutes preparing for socratic seminars because I think that more preparations could help back up my ideas.

Political Cartoon: Explaned

This cartoon shows a big boned man with a sachet saying Capitalizim. He is squeezing money out of a man labeled labor. He is standing next to bags of money labeled profits of child labor. The main visual elements are the caption, the fat man, and the guy he is strangling. This cartoon shows how there are greedy capitalists out there who try to squeeze (in this cartoon literally squeeze) every last drop of money out of people even though they have more than enough of everything that they need. I think that the author is trying to show that greedy people will do what ever they can to get money. The author is also making a point that capitalism can make that happen.
Evidence that shows this is that the man's huge amount of money came from child labor and that he is squeezing money out of his helpless workers. The caption definitely shows the point I am trying to make. I think that it would have gotten this authors point across even better if they had shown the fatty is more luxurious clothes or eating something to show how rich and greedy the capitalists on the top of the pyramid can be.

Updated goals

My first goal was to try to get more than the required amount of AR points because I know that I can get more points. I still think that this goal is appropriate for me because I've already read several books and just need to take quizzes on them.

My second goal was to try to take my time doing homework because I tend to get points of for making careless mistakes by rushing. I think I still need to work on this but i still think it is a good goal for me to achieve

Don't Put All of your Eggs in One Basket

Don't put all of your eggs in one basket applied a lot to me in the stock game. One example of this was because I often bought a lot of shares from only one or two different companies. This meant that if that company's stock drops, all of my stock does too instead of only a few shares.  This is very risky because all of your stock could drop very quickly. Something I did during the game that is a good example of this clue/proverb was when I bought 13 shares of silver and 8 shares of rail road near the end of the game. I relied to heavily on silver and it dropped, I lost a lot of money. One way to stop this is by balancing your investments over several companies so that if one drops, all is not lost.

The Net Affect of the Industrial Revolution

PROS

It has increased the use of technology a lot.

People are much more willing to except change.

People are a lot more global now.

You have a lot more variety in your life.

CONS

It has increased pollution a lot.

It has consumed a ton of non-renewable recourses.

People are no longer as independent.

There are fewer farmers so they need to use chemicals to help them do there job.

Industrial Revolution Activities 1 and 2

The difference between Thursday's and Friday's activities was that Thursday mimicked cottage industry and Fridays mimicked factory work during the industrial revolution. The definition of cottage industry is a small scale business that produces very few finely crafted goods. This is what we did on Thursday. We took time and a lot of effort to produce one finely crafted paper doll. On the other hand, Friday was more like industrialization because we made far more paper dolls with far less craftsmanship on an assembly line. This meant that we could mass produce them but at the cost of decreased quality. You could see this because of the significant difference in quality. This is how the activities showed cottage industry and industrialization.

Roller Coaster Ride

As I stepped onto the rusted yellow cart at Disney land, I could still smell the faint, acidic odor of vomit. Obviously, some just couldn’t hold it in. However I was to excited to be scared or disgusted. I had been waiting for an hour to get on and I wasn’t getting off because of puke. The man running the ride did the safety check list and then we were on our own. My hair was swept off my face as we picked up speed. At the top of the track we seemed to stop for barely a moment and then “voosh!” My hair whipped back and my stomach lurch. I was so scared I thought I would wet my pants. We started to slow down as we went up another hill but the pause was short live. I felt as I my stomach was about to be wrenched out of me. Everybody was screaming with excitement except for me.Far below me I could see all of the hundreds of people there and maybe even Mickey Mouse. Finally, the ride slowed down for good and we got of. The vomit smell came back and my mom, my dad and I hurried off before we also puked.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Necessity is the mother of invention means that need gives birth to invention.In other words, if someone needs something, someone creates it. One example is the wheel. Dragging or having to carry something over land probably started to be a pain. Naturally, at least somebody had a problem with the current method of transport and invented the wheel out of necessity. Another example is the light bulb. Edison knew that candles and gas lamps could be very dangerous so he invented the more safe way of producing light, the light bulb. Finally, there is the PC. Before that, computers were huge, expensive, and you had to know how to program it. But people needed a cheaper, smaller, and easier way to compute things. So when people needed a personal computer, Bill Gates invented one. This shows that necessity really is the mother of invention.

Quarter 1 Goals

My first goal is to get more than eighteen AR points because I know that I can get more than the required amount.

My second goal is to take my time doing homework because I tend to get points off for making careless mistakes.

How I Learn Best

I think that I am a visual learner. I feel that this is how I learn best this way because I tend to pay more attention while reading or looking at pictures. I have to have something to focus on or else I wander off and miss something important. My worst form of learning is probably audio because then I can’t focus on anything other than somebody’s voice which most of the time I absentmindedly block out unless I really trying hard to listen. Kinesthetic learning also works though I personally prefer visual learning. The best way that you could make my learning experience better is to provide handouts or show something on the board. This is how I would learn best.

My Buddies

The people in my "Gang" are Ben, Joey, Ian, Aaron, and Justin. Ben is part of my inner circle because at my old school, we did everything together. We went to each others houses all the time to play games and goof off. Even though its been 2 years, we still Wii-mail each other all the time. Joey was in because he was the guy who's house we went to to use their sports court and play X box. He was the big footballer kid too. Ian had the same situation as Ben but he was the tiny super soccer nut. Aaron and Justin were the to jokers were the jokers who had to crack a joke and give you a noogy before doing anything. All of them were in my class and were all on my soccer team too. I was left mid, Ben was goalie, Justin and Joey were defense, Aaron was right mid, and Ian was striker. All together, we made a pretty good team.