Russia Posts Katyn Massacre Documents on Internet

On Wednesday, Russia's archives posted documents about the massacre of over 20,000 Polish officers and citizens during World War II. This was the first time the documents had been posted by Russia since the war, although they had been public for many years. They did so as as gesture towards Poland to mend relations because the case looms large in Polish history and has soured relations between the two countries for decades. The documents were posted to show that Russia was finally excepting responsibility for the killings in Katyn and else where in the 1940s. The documents show signatures giving permission to Soviet soldiers to kill Polish prisoners of war. The document do not reveal the names of the officers that carried out the executions, but Russia plans to make those documents public on a later date. The release of these documents is playing a positive role in helping Russia come to terms with its painful history under Stalin. Since the tragic plane crash on April 10 that killed the President of Poland and 94 other on boards, relations between Russia and Poland have grown warmer.

Link:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/28/russia-posts-katyn-documents-internet/ 

Niger's Crop Failure

In Niger, they are facing a huge drought that is drastically affecting their economy. A lot of the crops that Niger normally produces are not growing due to the lack of water. Nearly 8 million people are affected by this drought and the UN is trying to help. They have stated that it would take nearly 13 million dollars to get the Niger crops and economy back on track, which is looking like something that cant be done. The UN is hoping they can adress this issue much earlier unlike what happened to Niger in the 1980s where millions of people died due to a drought that wasnt addressed. Niger's economy went under the tank and great controversy arose as the UN and many other nations did not act to help the Nigerians. People in Niger are only able to have about one meal a day and sometimes people dont even eat. The UN is doing everything to prevent another food crisis like they have seen in history.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8648215.stm

"Homeless good Samaritan left to die on NYC street"

I found this link to an article about a man who died on a street when he was trying to help a woman who was being attacked. He saw this woman and a man fighting and it began to get physical so this guy stepped in to help her but he ended up getting stabbed and was then laying on the side of the sidewalk. It was reported that 7 people walked by before an ambulance actually came and an hour or two had already passed and so it was too late.

I thought this was just awful because people could have had the opportunity to help but they didn't and so they basically killed him. I understand that seeing someone stabbed may be shocking but I wouldn't just leave him and walk by.

This made me think of how people judge others and how they don't always think of how they can help. Some people are too nervous to take a stand and others are too selfish to help anyone but themselves. To connect to this to history, it can sort of tie to people being to afraid to help someone who is in a different situation. In history, there have been many instances where people are not being treated fairly but the people who are treated fairly don't have the guts to stick up for the other side because they are worried that will hurt them and make them be treated unfairly. In this case, the guy was stabbed and bloody on a street and people may have been frightened that they might be killed if they helped or that the blood would get on them and cause a disease or infection. I think that someone should have helped earlier on by at least calling 911 or getting someone else to help if they couldn't. Personally, I would feel awful if I found out I could have saved someone's life but instead I chose not to be late for work or something.

Article URL:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dying_and_ignored

"Dancing Across Borders"

Sokvannara Sar was just 16 when Anne Bass saw him preform in Cambodia as a ballet dancer. She was so inspired that she moved him to her sprawling Connecticut House and tried to enroll him in a New York Ballet school. However, she and Sokvannara soon learned that Cambodian ballet and western ballet are quite different. EVen though he was a performer in Cambodia, he was at the skill level of a 10 year old in the U.S. This is because the Cambodian dance style is "much closer to the ground" and does not have as many spins or leaps. Ms. Bass does a large amount of charity work in Cambodia, pushing the arts after the destructive campaign of the khmer rouge. Sy (nickname for Sokvannara Sar) did not make it into a ballet school right away and so Bass hired an instructor. He learned very quickly and Bass took a video camera to his practices to help him learn and perfect his techniques. He made it into the Seattle Pacific NOrthwest Ballet and now at 25 is looking for something new. Bass turned all the footage from when she first saw him in Cambodia and his practices in America into a video called Dancing Across Borders, which is an award winning documentary.

Weddings: Now vs. Before

During the years that Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union, the wedding rituals were much different than how they are today. The family life played out in the Soviet Union as if marriage was just as important as two people holding hands in public. As of today, abortions and abolishing their own wedding rings were not frowned upon. It rather seemed weak to have such a strong family unit. Compared to the family life today, a lot has changed. I found this article which talked about the marriage between Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon. They discuss getting their wedding vows renewed every single year. Most marriages that last until death, only get theirs renewed once. They believe that, "if you're happy and in love, why not celebrate it?" As you can see, the importance of marriage has escalated tremendously and people are now wanting to embrace their love rather than hold it in and keep it private.


Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/27/mariah.nick.wedding.vows.ppl/index.html

UKRAINE PARLIAMENT

In this current event, ukraine was having a debate on wether or not Russia can use a naval base in their country. The president of Ukraine was explaining and describing this law as betrayal to their country and it got ugly. Fist fights were present in parliament. I think that this relates to modern world history by portraying Nationalism. The president is just trying to get the picture out that they would be betraying their own country if the law past and that the people in Ukraine should have pride in their country. It is a very controversial subject.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/27/ukraine-parliament-fight-eggs

Sudan's Recent Election

Sudan recently elected their 1st president in 20 years however, despite this election, they are still wanting to split between the North and South. The North consists mostly of the politicians while the South is the side with the rebels. Not suprisingly the South is the one who wants to cut ties with the North. This event is very similar to what I presented today about Vietnam how the US got involved with a country that has issues and it did not work out the way the US wanted it to. However, in Sudan the US used diplomacy, not violence. This article deals with both the culture and the policits of the Sudanese government.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/africa/27sudan.html?ref=world

'I can't afford surgery in the U.S.,' says bargain shopper

An Indiana man needed surgery on his nose, but could not find a hospital that would do it for less than $33,000. So, he looked for surgeons in other places and found that he could save about $30,000 by traveling to the UK. The number of people traveling outside the US to get medical assistance is greatly climbing as prices for medical aid continue to rise in the US. This trend can relate to many times in the past where trade with other nations became necessary during times of hyperinflation or general economic struggle. This also benefits less wealthy countries by giving them more business and allowing them to have a chance to bounce back from their financial deficit.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/26/cheaper.surgery/index.html?hpt=C1

MARS is creeping closer to earth in January

Mars will be easily viewable at the end of the month, the appearance of a reddish- orange planet will be seen my many of the people living on planet earth at the end of January. The last time Mars was visible was two years ago and now it is approaching very soon. Mars will be shadowing the path of the sun, rising and setting.

Good thing that Galileo discovered that the earth rotated around the sun and that the sun was the center of the universe because now scientist can discover interesting things that are happening and the rest of the earth can see. Without Galileo's discovery the world and its universe would be very out of whack and no one would be able to understand why things like being able to see Mars is possible. Also the telescope was a scientific tool used to discover the universe's unique characters and facts and how everything came about. The telescope is used in todays world very much and many people own one to view special times to see other planets that are in our universe. Thanks to Galileo and proving the universe is heliocentric!

http://www.theday.com/article/20100103/ENT07/301039960/-1/ENT

Steam Engine

The steam train was a huge innovation for land travel. It took the same steam engine that helped revolutionize river travel, and used it on land. Richard Trevithick and George Stephenson invented the first steam train in 1803, with help from the funding of Samuel Homfray. It made its first journey in 1804 traveling nine miles with seventy passengers, and hauling ten tons of cargo, in just under two hours. The reason that this was so significant was that the only was to transport goods across land, before the steam train, was either by foot, by stage coach, or by wagon train. The steam engine provided a easier and faster way to transport things, replacing horse and man power.

In 1804 the first passenger car was invented, and shortly after that the Stockton and Darlington Railroad Company was the first to carry both passengers and goods on a regular schedule. They used an improved version of the steam train made by Stephenson which was able to pull six loaded coal carts, 4 cargo carts, and 21 passenger carts over nine miles in just one hour. Then in 1863, after much railroad advancement, the transcontinental railroad was built. For six years the United States slaved over completing the railroad line connecting Sacramento, California with Omaha, Nebraska. Finally in 1869 the railroad was completed. People could now travel more than halfway across the country aboard one train. The 1848 gold rush contributed a lot to the desire to travel west, and the railroad made it easy to do that. Before that transcontinental Railroad, it took travelers over four months to make the journey, because they were making in horse powered wagon trains. The Transcontinental Railroad made the journey possible in only a few days, just a fraction of what is was before.

The Steam Train was a huge advancement, because now mass amounts of goods and passengers could be quickly transported long distances. Instead of loading up caravans of horses and wagons and mules with hundreds of pounds of goods, people now had a far faster, safer, and more reliable way to do it. On trains. People also now had a much faster and reliable form of transportation for themselves. And not to mention, much more comfortable. They now had the ability to travel 2000 miles in just a few days. At the time, this was unheard of. And that is why the steam train and railroad were so revolutionary.

Shackleton and Discovery

This is a picture of Ernest Shackleton's ship crashing in Antarctica. Shackleton was an explorer of the late 1800s and early 1900s. His goal was to become the first explorer, along with his crew, to cross Antarctica through it's central pole. During the expedition, their ship got stuck in the Antarctic ice. Two rescue ships were sent, but neither could get close enough to Discovery (the original ship) to free it from the ice. However, in february of 1904, some of the Antarctic ice began to break around Discovery, and Shackleton's ship was freed.

Knowledge Categorization- Opinionative Discussion

As we discussed in class on Friday, there are multiple categories in which people choose to determine how one gains knowledge. Some we came up with were discovering wisdom through history, common knowledge, personal experience, testimony, scientific evidence, and the most controversial of the bunch, revelation and religious knowledge. As the discussion regarding the various units in which one categorizes their source of knowledge unraveled, the discussion became quite heated. With some taking the stance that the only way to truly believe what one is learning is when evidence is provided, the counter argument proposed the idea that not every bit of intelligence must have proof to back it up. Both arguments introducing topics fairly and both of equal stature, we were unable to come to a clear conclusion.
However, I felt that this is a situation in which an ending is not necessarily needed. Both opinions were stated clearly with personal opinions provided, proving that both sides felt passionate about what they were arguing. My personal opinion is that the categories Ms. Xia posted on the board regarding ways in which one gathers knowledge from were all adequate and I agreed with each of them. Yes, providing proven evidence on a matter will cause me to trust the topic to its fullest extent, however learning things through personal experiences and/or being enlightened religiously are ways I choose to abide by as well. Yet this is not how the whole class felt, and some argued that in order for one to truly believe, there must be a topic hand in hand with concrete proof. This proved that for some, believing is seeing, and for others, seeing is believing.
As we dive into our next unit, with chapters relating to great revolutions world wide, we will find that many of the transformations made will tie into our class discussion that took place on Friday. Not all discoveries and changes being made were supported by proof or concrete evidence, and some will run along the lines of a more spontaneous event, backed up by merely personal beliefs. It was crucial for us to get a taste for what we will be learning, and become better familiarized with a topic that will arise frequently as we continue to grow. Determining how one chooses to gain their knowledge is both a personal and essential task, and it was nice to begin in deciding which categories we will choose by introducing the topic in class.