Discuss whether you feel the U.N’s power should be increased to have enforcement authority over any nation or should be decreased to only provide humanitarian aid when asked.

I think that the U.N.’s power should be increased a bit so that that they have control over the world, not power over the world. What I mean about control over the world is that the U.N. could help any individual nation decide on what decision to make. To take power over the world would be like world domination. So, yes I think the U.N. should be a bit more powerful.

-1. How are your two events connected?

The way our two events are connected (mine and Devyani’s) is that they are about the same situation. The event was about the serious gunfire in the Virginia Tech building. The gunman killed 33 poeple including himself, and injured a lot.

-2. What did you find interesting about this topic?

What I found interesting about this topic was that, why would a person do such a bad thing like this event. It really suprises me how a person can do that. That is just sick and not right. What T I also found interesting was that this was the deadiliest gunfire incident in the U.S.A.’s history!

-3. What did you like about the initial blog posting?

What I liked about the initial blog posting was that Devyani used lots of pictures and she described the event really well and thorough. I really liked the current event and the initial blog posting.

Bes

Try to imagine being the ugliest god, and not even being Egyptian! That’s Bes. It was interesting learning about Bes, because his characteristics changed over the many years. I believe that Bes played an important role in the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians.

Bes is a VERY ugly god. He is often depicted as a dwarf with a protruding tongue. He had a flat nose, big head with a beard, bushy eyebrows and hair, and enormous ears. He had bowed legs, a large stomach, and he sometimes wore a tiara of feathers. Bes does not appear to be Egyptian at all. He seems to be of African origin. What’s even more interesting is that he was always depicted facing front unlike typical Egyptian images which were always in profile. Bes was created around 3000B.C.

Bes had many different duties as a god. He was the protector during childbirth, promoter of fertility, the patron of home, laughter, song and dance - a guardian of life’s pleasant moments. Ancient Egyptians would place a statue of Bes at the entrance of their home to ward off bad spirits. He was so ugly he could scare just about any nasty spirit! Over the years, Bes remained a good god, but his emphasis shifted to more protection during wartime. His image would be carved on shields for protection against the enemy. He was a very busy fellow!

Bes had a great deal of influence in a typical Ancient Egyptian’s life. His image was carved on tables and houseware items to scare away nightmares and bad spirits. This would help the people have more peaceful moments. They believed that when a baby smiled or laughed that Bes was making funny faces at the baby. Who wouldn’t crack up at that weird face?

I was amazed at the great range of duties that Bes had over the span of many years. It still interests me to know why he does not appear to be Egyptian and that his image is facing front, not profile. Wherever this strange, ugly little character came from he became very important for the ancient Eyptians.

URL: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Egypt.Dendera.Bes.01.jpg/225px-Egypt.Dendera.Bes.01.jpg

Today in class I heard many marvelous presentations. I loved all of them. They were so good. I learned a lot from every single presentation. I espesially, liked the people who dressed up because they presented really well, they had awesome costumes, and because they acted their character out. Instead of standing there reading off of their papers. It was so entertaining! Also what I found was interesting was that lots of gods were related to each other in that time.
If I were to do this speech/presentation I would try to act out more,not just standing there reading off of the paper. Also, I would try to volunteer to go first of second, so I won’t be as nervous when I am up there. I hope to do better next time.

What is the issue?
The issue is that there was a gunman at Virginia Tech (college). The gunman killed 32 people in total and 15 people were injured. The gunman went into each class room, lined all the students up and shot them one by one. Lots of people ‘played dead’ so they could stay alive. When the police came, they surrounded the college, so the gunman shot himself in the head. The President of the school says that the gunman was aChinese student that attended the school. This has been America’s most deadlly gunfiring rampage in it’s history.

Who is involved?
The 32 students who were involved because they died. The students who were injured because they were injured. Also the gunman was involved because he shot lots of people, and he killed himself.

Who is affected and how?
The people who are affected are the families and friends of the people who died, because they lost a loved one. Also the gunman is affected because he died, and his family because he died and they must have been sad that their son did a terrible thing.

What I would do if I were directly involved?
If I were directly involved I would give the school better security and find some way to convinse people to not do such bad things.

Citation:

” Virginia Tech president: Shooter was Asian student.”

Virginia Tech president: Shooter was Asian student

7:02 a.m. EDT, April 17, 2007. (17.04.07)

Related news article:   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6390587.stm 

How are the two events connected?

The two articles are realated because they are both about the nuclear programme in North Korea. The head of the UN’s nuclear agency says he has been invited to North Korea for talks on its nuclear programme. Mohamed ElBaradei hoped to talk about the suspension of North Korea’s nuclear activity. As you just read, it relates with Oscar’s event, about the stop to the nuclear bomb.

What did you find interesting about this topic?

What I found interesting about this topic was that N Korea decided not to test the Nuclear bomb. But in stead, they would get 50, 000 metric tons of fuel or money. That is all that I thought was quite intreseting.

What did you like about the initial blog posting?

I really liked how he got his information off of the webpage, then made it into his own words. Also I liked how he organized all of his text and all of his pictures.

Citation for the article I chose:

” N Korea ‘invites UN nuclear head’” BBC NEWS | NKorea ‘invites UN nuclear head’. Friday, 23 February 2007, 22:54 GMT.  <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6390587.stm> (25. 02. 07).

This is Mohamed ElBaradei.

• What would you change about the final product (the wiki you created) if you were to do the assignment again?

If I could change the final product I would add more information in the pages of the wiki, and I would find better pictures of the topics on each page.

• Look at some of the other wikis from any class and find a few that you think are done exceptionally well. Tell me the name of the empire and the block, and then explain what you like about their wiki.

Swahili Empire, block D: I liked the way they had a attractive title, and they organized their information and pictures.

Zimbabwe, block D: They really did well on finding good picture, and how they made their infor mation really easy to read and to understand.

I really liked all of the different group’s videos. They are very good, and clear to understand.

What did you learn from this task?

I learnt a few things. One thing I learned was how to use wikispaces better, for example, how to put in pictures, and other skills like that. I also learned a LOT about the Swahili Kingdom.

Did you find this task easy or difficult? Why?

I thought that this project was quite hard. I thought it was hard because I had to gather a bunch of information, then I had to create a wiki (which I am not very good at).

What would you change about the process you went through to complete the wiki if you were to do the assignment again?

If I could do the assignment again, I would work harder, gather more information, then I would try to help the others more, and cooperate better.

Link to website: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250522,00.html

What is the issue?

The issue is that Syria, Iran and other near countries have been giving weapons to a very strong Shiite terrorist group that is trying to destroy Israel. They are trying to destroy Israel because Israelis are Jewish and the Shiite group and all the other near countries are Muslim.

Who is involved?

The Shiites are involved, the Israelis, and the other close countries.

Who is affected and how?

The Israelis are affected because the Shiites are killing them. Also the Shiites are affected because they are the ones that are killing all of the Israelis and destroying Israel.

What I would do if I were directly involved?

If I were directly involved, I would try to stop the fighting, and I would tell the U.N. to really try to stop the fighting in Israel. The U.N. is not fighting its hardest to stop this terrible war.

Citation:

Rosen, James. “Israeli Official: Foreign Sources Arming Hezbollah, Hamas at Alarming Rate” FOXNews.com-Israeli Official: Foreign Sources Arming Hezbollah, Hamas at Alarming Rate-International News | News of the World | Middle East. Wednesday Feb. 7, 2006. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250522,00.html> (Wednesday Feb. 7, 2006).

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250522,00.html

This is a picture of the Shiite flag.

http://www.defensibleborders.org/images/map2.jpg

This is a map of the middle east.

What is the issue?

The Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that on Tuesday his government will send representatives to neighboring countries (Syria, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) and to plan the way for a regional conference on ending the violence in Iraq. Because the conference is being held in Iraq, the people attening will have a better understanding of the violence in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group also thinks that they should have the meeting.

Who is involved?

The Shiites and the Sunnis are involved because they are the two groups that are fighting and being killed. Also the U.S. military is involved because they are the ones that are fighting to save the two groups.

Who is affected and how?

The people that live in Iraq are affected because theyare being killed from all the fighting. Also the U.S. military because they are fighting.

What I would do if I were directly involved?

If I were directly involved I would try and make peace between the two muslim groups. I would also make a big meeting just like the article.

Citation: Associated Press. “Al-Maliki Proposes Regional Conference to End Iraq’s Violence.”Tuesday, December 05, 2006. <http://www.foxnews.com/images/244185/1_24_120506_iraq.jpg>Dec.6, 2006