Sunday, November 18, 2007

Hw 36: The Beta Pod's first PodCast

http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=8538&cast=49707&castPage=&autoplay=true

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

HW35: A letter for you

Over the past semester, we’ve been keeping blogs. Here, we’ve written about books, other blogs, things that we’ve attended, etc. Throughout maintaining this blog, I’ve learned so much about the Internet, and how to use things. Before this class I had never even heard of blogging before. So it was kind of difficult to use one without having any knowledge of who could read it, and knowing that someone could actually respond to it. I hope that someone who comes along my blog actually learns at least something from it. Maybe they’ll learn about Riverbend, or about Virginia Woolfe. After this semester, I’ll most likely never post anything again. It’s not that I don’t like it it’s just that I probably won’t have time to. I don’t like the idea of having someone comment on my own opinion, or life if I started writing about that. I just don’t like the idea of it. As of right now, I think I’ll stick to Facebook.

HW 34: Cultural Differences

In Baghdad Burning, Riverbend mentions that gold is very big in family savings in Iraq. The way she makes it seem is that, people have gold to sell, because the price of gold never changes. So when people get married, the man gives the woman gold jewelry, also known as a “mahar” or when a baby is born the gifts are usually little golden trinkets that the parents can either keep or sell. Riverbend explains “People began converting their money to gold-earrings, bracelets, necklaces-because the value of gold didn’t change. People pulled their money out of banks before the war, and bought gold instead.” (Riverbend 100) This is why gold has such a big role in family savings, because gold is the savings, there is no money. Riverbend then discusses the custom of evening tea in Iraq. “In the evening, most Iraqi families gather together for “evening tea.” It’s hardly as formal as it sounds… No matter how busy the day, everyone sits around in the living room, waiting for tea.” (Riverbend 108) She says that the tea in Iraq is not like having tea here. Here, we use teabags, in Iraq they go through a three-step process just to make tea. “Tea is so important in Iraq, that it makes up a substantial part of the rations we’ve been getting ever since the sanctions were imposed upon the country. People drink tea with breakfast, the drink tea at midday, they drink tea in the evening and often drink tea with dinner.” I don’t know about you… but I didn’t know that tea was such a big thing.

HW33: Challenges at Al-Safina Middle School

The Podcast that I decided to watch was called “Challenges at a Girl’s School in Baghdad” this was shown on May 21st 2007. Here is the link that I found the Podcast on: http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/05/21/challenges-at-a-girls-school-in-baghdad. It first tells us about the Al-Safina Middle School in Adhamiya, Baghdad. The topic that is covered is how children face challenges getting to school. The people shown in this podcast are Jinan Jamal Mahmoud (Director or Al-Safina), Samirah Izzi Ali (Physics Teacher), and two students. One of the girls shown in the podcast, is wearing a hijab, and answering questions on how she gets to school. One of the students shown said that she wasn’t afraid of the explosions anymore because she’s so used to hearing them. The scenery is basically the classroom, but the school doesn’t look like a school here in America. The paint on the walls were chipped, and the classrooms were too small. From watching this video, I’ve learned that it must be really hard for students in other countries to go to school with all these explosions, raids, and shootings going on around them. I could never imagine having to live with that. I think that’s the most memorable part for me… when the student said she’s so used to hearing the noise, because it shouldn’t have to be like that.

HW 32: Akila Al-Hashimi

On September 21st 2003, Riverbend wrote about Akila Al-Hashimi, here she tells us that as she was walking out of work, two pick-up trucks with armed men, cut her off and opened fire on her. They thought that she was walking with “body guards” but they were only her brothers. Anyway, Akila had been taken to the Al-Yarmuk hospital, “where her stomach was operated upon, and [she was] then shipped off in an American army ambulance to no one knows where, but people say it was probably the hospital they have set up in Baghdad Airport. (Riverbend 75) After Riverbend explains this to us, she explains whom Al-Hashimi. Al-Hashimi was one of the “decent members on the council.”(Riverbend 75) She lived in Iraq and had worked in foreign affairs in the past. Riverbend then states, “It’s also depressing because of it signifies-that no female is safe, no matter how high up she is…”(Riverbend 75) She also says that Al-Hashimi was not only female, but didn’t wear a hijab, and was the first real “foreign representative” of the new government.

Monday, November 12, 2007

HW 31: Responding to Riverbend

During the reading, from Baghdad Burning, I became interested in Al-Hakim (Riverbend 43). I did some research on the Internet and found out that he was an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of SIIC, the largest political party in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. His full name is Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, and he was born in 1950. He was also a member of the United States-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and served as the president in December 2003. He was the top candidate listed for the United Iraqi Coalition during the first Iraqi legislative election of January 2005 but has not sought a government post because the Alliance had decided not to include theologians in the government. The reason I chose him was because Salam had sent Riverbend a post on her site saying that they were going to have an Iraqi blog-fight. (Riverbend 43). This “blog-fight” was going to be over Al-Hakim’s death. This interested me.

HW31: Citizenship Symposium

On Thursday, November 9th 2007, I attended the Citizenship Symposium. It was called, “Citizenship & Responsibility”. Here, the United States Representative & Holocaust Survivor Tom Lantos spoke, as did his daughter Katrina Sweat. Katrina was the first to speak. She told us that her father is the only Holocaust Survivor to serve in the United States Congress, and that he is also the Chairman of the House of Foreign Affairs Committee since 2006. Next, Tom Lantos spoke to us. He moved to the United States when he was 19 years old. He then attended University of Washington, Seattle. He talked about meeting the New President of France, and hearing his speech on the US-Europe relations. He quoted the New President of France, “America did not teach men the idea of freedom, she taught them how to practice it.” I thought it was a very smart quote, and it made a lot of sense to me. I thought it was genius.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

HW30: What Kind of Democracy do we want?

Today at the Citizenship Symposium, I attended the session called, “What kind of Democracy do we want?” There were 3 speakers by the names of Emile Netzhammer (KSC Provost), Mayor Michael Blastos, and Nancy Tobi. Nancy Tobi showed us a slide show that she called, “Citizens Gone Wild: Taking Control of Our Democracy.” The first slide she told us about Moses, and how he was the first leader of the democratic movement. She referred to him as “a stuttering, humble, poor shepherd refugee,” who “led his people from slavery to freedom, invoking pure democratic law.” Nancy Tobi then began to ask “What kind of Democracy do we have?” She went over the Declaration of Independence, and the meaning of what democracy is on Wikipedia; a republic state or country that is not led by a monarchy. Tobi then talked about safeguard, and election crime. This affects everything. There are two methods that are used to count votes. There is a hand count (community counters) and then there is the Diebold Count (black box count). Nationally, 80% of the ballots counted by corporate owned and programmed computers using secret vote counting. In New Hampshire, 81% of the ballots are counted by corporate owned and programmed computers using secret vote counting. One quote that she used was by Joseph Stalin, “It’s not who votes that counts, It’s who counts the votes.” If there’s one thing I learned it would be about the election crime, I never knew that the ballots were counted by corporate owned and programmed computers.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

HwW 29: Dear Riverbend

Dear Riverbend,

I’d like to start off with a “thank you.” This book has given me an insight to the war, and a lot of others as well. It’s not like we’re watching it on T.V. you’re actually giving us a vision of living the way you do. It must be hard, and I give you credit for it. Having to wake up to the sound of a gun-shots, explosion or yelling; and then wondering if it was a burglar, gang of looters, an attack, a bomb, or an American midnight raid, is frightening and I could never imagine doing that. It also amazes me that you know if it’s a tank, armored vehicle, Apache or Chinook, or me how you can tell if it’s a pistol or a machine-gun and how far the distance and maybe even the target. You show us what it’s like living in Iraq, as a woman. I also never knew that 50% of the work force in Iraq was made up of woman. You’ve opened my eyes to the life of an Iraqi woman living in the war, and the war in general. Keep writing!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

HW 28: Baghdad Burning

The book Baghdad Burning is a blog written by an Iraqi woman who is 24. She goes by the name “Riverbend.” In her first blog post she tells us we should “expect a lot of complaining and ranting.” (Riverbend 5) She was just looking for a place to go and vent, and then she found her blog. She never really knew that anyone was going to read it. In the second blog she tells us what it’s like living in Iraq. She describes what it’s like waking up to the sound of “gun-shot, explosion, or yelling.” (Riverbend 6) Honestly, I’ll admit that I don’t pay that much attention to the war. This opens up my mind and makes me think, not only about the troops in Iraq, but now the people there. It’s teaching me about the war, and way people in Iraq see it.



Works Cited:
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005.

HW25: Baghdad Burning

I thought the Forward and Introduction of Baghdad Burning were interesting, and open-minded. In the Forward, by Ahdaf Soueif he tells us about a young Baghdadi woman who blogs on the Internet about the war. She goes by the name “Riverbend” and her blog is called “Baghdad Burning.” Soueif tells us that this war in Iraq has changed Riverbend’s life. On her blog she explains how she loses power, and there’s water shortages. As I was reading this, Soueif also quoted her on how people in Iraq actually felt bad for the troops. “There was a time when people here felt sorry for the troops. No matter what one’s attitude was to the occupation, there were moments of pity towards the troops, regardless of their nationality. We Would see them suffering under the Iraqi sun, obviously wishing they were somewhere else and somehow the vulnerability made them seem less monstrous and more human, That time has passed.” (Riverbend, viii) I like that he included this because to me, it seemed like they hated the troops that are there, and for her to state that actually opens my eyes to the war. In the Introduction, by James Ridgeway, he explains everything in depth. He tells us about Riverbend’s background, and how her “culture is rooted in one of the oldest and richest civilizations in the world.” (Smithway xiii) Smithway also tells us how Riverbend is not only living through the war not, but she also grew up when the Persian Gulf War was occurring.