Golden Triangle Facts

These are facts that I found astonishing and really show how big this trade was. Its also interesting to read about how the UN is cracking down and all of their various tactics.
1) This trade generated up to 90% of the heroin used on the European and 70% of all opium sold worldwide as of 1995.
2) The trade has fallen 94% in Laos as of 1998 because of efforts from both the UN and China
3) Contrary to beliefs, many of the farmers who grew the opium are upset with the government as they have no sort of profits. A large amount of farmers are struggling to switch from opium to cash crops.
4) An estimated 100,000 opium addicts in just Laos alone, but this number is decreasing at the price for opium was sky rocketed due to the rarity and lack of production.
5) Khun Sa, the recent drug lord who died, was connected to 45% of all of the worlds drugs in the 1980s.

Bibliography

1) Melt, Carl. "Eyewitness: The Golden Triangle Poppy Fields". January 2002. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1768035.stm accessed on (May 04, 2010).
Talks about the actualy poppy fields and their effects on Thailand and the rest of SE Asia
2) Fuller, Thomas. "Notorious Golden Triangle Loses Sway in the Opium Trade". Septermber 2007. NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/world/asia/11iht-golden.1.7461246.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=golden%20triangle&st=cse accessed on (May 04, 2010).Talks about the decline of this opium trade and how the UN is cracking down on it
3) Fuller, Thomas. "Khun Sa, Golden Triangle Drug King, Dies at 73". Septermber 2007. NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/world/asia/05khunsa.html?scp=5&sq=golden%20triangle&st=cse accessed on (May 4, 2010). Talks about the drug lord dying and it's effect on this trade and the SE Asia economy
4) Patton, Joseph. "South East Asia: The Golden Triangle". March 2006. Drugpolicy.org. http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/drugpolicyby/asia/seasia/ accessed on (MAy 04, 2010) This is very factual and talks a lot about the percentage of the economy etc.
5) Chouvy, Pierre-Armuad. "Drug Trade in Asia". April 2002. Geopium.org. http://www.geopium.org/drugtradeinasia.html accessed on (May 04, 2010) This ones talks about the effect this trade has on all of the Asian countires up to Japan.

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

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

Nuclear Radiation

Even though nuclear bombs are very devastating weapons, often the radiation from these bombs can be even more devastating. About 5% of the energy from the bomb is transmitted into gamma radiation. This number may seem very small, however nuclear bombs are some of the most powerful items on the face of the planet so this 5% energy is still very lethal. After exposure from radiation, effects will kick in within the next 30 days for an "average" human. After intial exposure, an "average" human will have a 50% chance to live, depending on your bodies internal structure and the amount of radiation you recieve. If one goes under more then 2,000 r.a.d (radiation absored dose) then you will face instant death. In order to undergo this much r.a.d it is equivelent to surviving the blast of a nuclear bomb but inhaling the air just after the bomb is dropped. So not only can the bomb do damage with the blast, but the after effects make it one of the most lethal weapons in the world. As you can see from the picture, the radiation peels away the skin and burns it up.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/radiation.htm

The Evolution of War

I think that war has completely changed after WWII. Almost every single aspect of the war has been changed varying from the battles, the diplomacy's, and the after effects of the war. If you look at WWI and how people prepared and fought during the war, it had almost nothing in common with WWII. Armies would sit in trenches for months seeing which army could last the longest, however this was the opposite in WWII. Armies were charging cities fighting with almost a sense of urgency. This made it much easier to conquer territories in a faster time, however the were more consequences. Also, both the naval and air force academies became HUGE factors in WWII. As we see with the Japanese-American fights in the Pacific, these both played major roles. However before, neither of these were used other then transportation of ammo and food. These two aspects almost determined the end of the war as we saw with the bombing in Japan. Another difference was the implications of the war. Millions died and it left nations in shambles and others trembling. This was the case with the US after they dropped the bomb. People around the world couldn't believe that they had that much power. It left nations in constant fear and would lead to the cold war. It was one of the first times in history where a weapon developed in war had such a psychological grip on the world. Overall, WWII changed both the concept and idea of modern warfare.

Causes for WWII

I think that the main causes for WW2 the governments that were instilled in the countries that consisted the Axis of Evil. These countries had g'ments that promoted war and nationalism however on the other hand, France, Britian, and the USA had g'ments that did not want to fight. The economies did not rely on war and were still recovering the Great Depression, but the Axis g'ments were ready to get out and fight. This is why the Allies did nothing to let try and stop Hitler as he gained momontum in claiming Easter Europe. They did not want to interfer because they were not ready to fight again, but the Axis were ready beacuse of their very pro-militay g'ments. Almost the entire Japanese g'ment had been swallowed by war officials. Italy needed the war to boost their econmy and Hitler had almost brainwashed the entire g'ment and wanted to fufill his dream of having an "elite" race. Because of these reasons each nation was ready to fight while the Allies did not want a part of it. Before they knew it, the Axis had gained too much momontum and WW2 was about the start.

Japanese Government

I think at the time that we are studying, the Japanese Government was not a totalitarianism government. This type of g'ment can be described as having 100% control of the laws, army, and this will give them the control of all of their citizens. This was not true for the Japanese g'ment but it was becoming more and more true as time continued. The military was becoming more frustrated with how the officials were dealing with Western powers and this lead to them trying to take control of the government. We see this when the military attacked the Manchus without the approval of the officials. The military would come to seize complete control during the time of WWII which is why they bombed America, something that the current Japanese government would never do due to their fondness of Western nations. At the time we are studying, the government was not totalitarianism but it soon would become this when the military was frustrated by the actions of their government.

Sorry it is late, thought it was due tommorow

Sources-Class

Soviet Union and Japan

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was not established during WWI but from the events that occur ed to Russia during WWI. They were one of the three main countries who joined the war along with Britain and France. After only a year and half, Russia had hit an all time low. They lost millions of soldiers and civilians and were lacking both food and weapons that were needed to survive WWI. They then dropped out of the war because it was taking too much of a toll on the country. There was then the Russian Revolution where the Czar was overthrown. Then during the 1920s, there was the rise of the Communist Party that would soon establish the Soviet Union. Because of the transformation that Lenin was installing on the Soviet's economy, there was little effect on the Soviets. They had removed themselves from the world trading system, so when everyone else went down, the lack of trading connections for the Russians payed off. People from around the world actually moved to Russia in hope of a better life.

Japan

The Japanese did not have much effect on World War 1 thought they did do something. They were on the sides of the Allies and often received orders from the British to take out German ships around Southeast Asia. They also attacked German territories in China. They then presented the 21 Demands which would give Japan ownership of part of China. Japan was also one of the countries not affected by Great Depression. The Finance Minister of Japan used very effective techniques to minimize the damage. However during and after the Great Depression, Japan developed very imperial ambitions wanting to be established as a world power which lead to the invasions of China, Mongolia, and the USSR which would lead to Japan joining the Axis of Power.

Picture of Fred Garett

This is a picture of the Austrialian Corps, which Fred Garett was a part of. I could not find a specific picture of him but I know he was part of the cavlery unit which is pictured above. Also, because of the fact that these soldiers are on camel, I can concur that they fighting near the Middle East, which is where Fred was stationed.

Fred Garrett: Background and Close Analysis

Fred Garrett wrote his war diaries over the course of 2 years and updated it almost daily. He wrote over 650,000 words in this diary and it contains information varying from talking about going to church to fighting in battle and watch his ally be captured by the enemy. His official title was Sergeant F. Garett and was part of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment. It was fascinating to read through his diaries because of the fact that he often traveled numerous miles in one day and as a class we are used to reading about the trench wars and a soldier not moving for months. However, Fred's war experience was almost the complete opposite never staying in one base for more then a week or two. Also because of the fact that Calvary use has been outdated for years and this was one of the last wars where armies effectively used cavalry. This reading from the diary talks about a trip through the deserts of Egypt while their unit aides the Allies in a attack on the Turks.

Left for the scrap at about 10.00 a.m. and watered at SALMANA about 7 miles east. From SALMANA to MAZA is waterless. At about 8.00 a.m. we halted in a rather deep gully, for these parts. The track clearly defined running below. Halted fed up and had brekker, boiled billy. The last hour of this part of the journey was specially a snorter, horses pouring sweat, hot sun and no wind. The Brigade Field Ambulance rigged up a marque hospital and a couple of bell tents. A scouting Taube came over, circled around once or twice and made off. We are supports to the 2nd and 3rd Brigades and the Camel Corps (Imperial?). Who attacked 2,300 Turks, strongly entrenched at MAZA.
At about midday these Brigades passed us going back. They made no serious attack and from what I can see of the stunt it was only a reconnaissance in force. Their horses had not been watered since the previous day and were feeling it. Brought back between 20 and 30 prisoners, regulars and Bedouins.. Regulars are dressing in a light yellowish cloth, red sash and Bedouin style head gear, good puttees. Rifles are Martini-Peabody (U.S.A.) a little wallar on a donkey and two young cow camels, several camels, and 1 Turk Officer. We had several casualties, one officer killed, 5 killed and 20 wounded, I heard, but perhaps wrong, that two batteries, RHA, supported our chaps.
Colonel COX is in charge of our Brigade. We started back at about 2.00 p.m. SALMARA at 6.00 p.m., watered, salty water. BIR EL ABD at 8.30 p.m., drew rations and water and slept. The other Brigades operating from HOD ES AMARA not ROMANI.

This passage from his diary is just one of the many like it. Because of the fact that the Australians were not a primary country involved in war but a territory that came in to help their home nation, there are multiple accounts of his brigade coming in and helping another army. There are only a couple passages where his brigade gets into a fight that they spark themselves. One interesting thing was the fact that the used and took weapons and equipment from dead enemy soldiers. The most fascinating thing about Garrett's war diaries is the fact that his brigade is never called in or requested from another army in distress. They regiment rolls around getting orders from their superiors and if they see another Ally army in battle or in need of aide, they help them. They dont seem to have a firm sense of what to do but just ride their horses all throughout Europe fighting any Central Powers that they encounter. This example is seen in this passage. Also, it but it into perspective how many causalities there were in WWI reading a diary because of the fact that in just one battle, we read about 30 people dying for the enemy and having 5 wounded on their side. In this passage, we see various nations fighting for one cause. It is interesting to see how people from all over the world will unite and come together to accomplish one goal and after this goal is accomplished, go back to their regular lives. Despite all the friends and allies from around the world Fred meets, after he is sent back, he never hears from them again.

Source: http://www.grantsmilitaria.com/garrett/

Poison Gas

Through out the war, nations developed various weapons to increase their chances at winning the war. Some of these advancements failed and turned out not to be useful on the battlefield, but one of the most successful weapons that was developed during World War 1 was poison gas. Although they had produced poison gas before WWI nations soon began to see how it could be extremely beneficial in the War. The Germans were the first to use poison gas and they used to both kill the enemies and also to try and get the enemies to flee out of the trenches and run right into the their machine guns that were waiting as they jumped out of the trenches. The British and French soon began to use poison gas and by the end of the war, it became one of the most feared weapons in history. Armies would drop multiple gas bombs right on their enemies and hundreds of victims would be infected. Although the death to poison gas number is not very high, there were still a vast number of victims to poison gas. Eventually, they developed a gas mask but even then they were not 100% functional and if there was any sort of crack in these flawed masks, the soldier would be exposed.
source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/poison_gas_and_world_war_one.htm and handout

Garret War Diaries

My war diaries are known as the Garrett War Diaries and he was part of the Austrian Militaria. It will be very interesting to read about a person who is part of a nation that is directly involved in the war, as in not part of the French or British who joined because of a treaty. Also to read about how he feels this war has played out and how he feels about fighting for his homeland knowing that if he loses this war, his home will be taken over by the hungarians.

Our patrols sighted a body this morning supposed to be enemy scouts.
Had charge of the same signalling station this morning. Two fine days for helio work. We can communicate to Indian Bikaner Camel Corps piquet situated at Paps, to our observation post to the northeast or to Bir Hooker Bde HQ in the south. Bir Hooker is about 7 miles away the Paps about 5 or 6 ahead of us and are two conical shaped hills rising abruptly from the desert at the furthest end of the wadi.
The piquet goes out every morning and takes a Tommy telephone Officer with it. A cable runs the whole distance from Bir Hooker. Leaving there it runs along the line as far as the aerodrome (the aeroplane to occupy it, is on its way though, ground is marked out with white lines and brown canvas hanger is erected). Then it runs in and out among the reeds until the camp is reached. Then across the camp area under the sand until tents are reached, along the tops until it gets to orderly room, the whole distance is on the ground.
Last night volunteer was wanted to run wire with CHERRY into Bir Hooker to find break .

source: http://www.grantsmilitaria.com/garrett/html/jan1916.htm

The Na'vi

Na'vi flag of Ewya

The four stars on the right side represent the four clans of the Na'vi. The blue background represents the color of our skin. The tree in the middle is what we call home tree and it is where we live and where our culture is based. The red triangles make it look kinda cool and serve no purpose whatsoever. The black and white circles represent our peace with between the good and bad in nature and our unity with nature and our home tree.

National Anthem:

O land of the Na'vi, of rivers and plains;
Made rich by the sunshine, and lush by the rains,
Set gem like and fair, between mountains and sea,
Your children salute you, dear land of the free!

Green land of Pandora, our heroes of yore,
Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore.
This soil so they hallowed, and from them are we,
All sons of one Mother, Pandora the free!!

Great land of Earth, diverse though our strains,
We are born of their sacrifice, heirs of their pains,
And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,
One land of two peoples, united and free!

Dear land of Earth, to you will we give,
Our homage, our service, each day that we live;
We guard you, great Eywa, and make us to be
More worthy our heritage, land of the free!

http://naviblue.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=122&start=10

National History:
We are known as the Na’vi. Our nation is located on the eastern coast of what is know Brazil, but we are spread out all across South America. There are 4 major tribes that fall under our nation, each one having its own unique dynamic that makes the Na’vi so powerful and diverse. The first tribe is known as the Omaticaya. The capital of the Na’vi empire is located in the center of the Omaticaya tribe in the dense forests of Brazil. We live in what we call the Hometree were everyone in the tribe is located. We all live in this tree because it enables us to connect with the one thing we value most, and this is our bond with nature. We feel that all beings including animals, plants, and humans are all connected and share one common bond. We feel that you should try and differ yourself from your common being but try and be with them. Some ways we try and make ourselves one with our planet is we wear minimal clothes. This helps be as much part as the Earth as the animals we live with. The only time we use accessories is when we go into battle, which has only been one time in our history. This is when the British came over to our homeland and tried to change our ways. They wanted to bring us new technology that would diversify ourselves from nature. They insisted on bringing new technology and even diseases to us, we resisted. We then summoned all 4 tribes of the Na’vi to fight off the evil Englishmen and were able to defeat them fairly easily. This truly send a message to the rest of the world that our land was not going to be taken over and we were not open to this outside influences that wanted to change our ways. We then broke back into our four tribes and went on with living our way of life.

One thing that is very unique to our people that no other nation obtains is our special bond we have with nature. We strongly believe in a secret bond that we share with all organisms and this helps us be that much more with our Mother Earth. This is a special ritual we do and accomplish this ritual by putting our feet in the roots of the plants. These plants then give us the nutrients that help them survive and let us be even more one with the world. We do this with animals by taming them completely and being able to rid the animals across the plains of Nagat. When we able to accomplish this, we are accepted into manhood because our Mother has accepted us as part of her. Our Mother is also called Ewya by our people and it is what we value most in We believe that all creatures on Earth’s fate is controlled by the sentient intelligence Ewya. We have no choice but to live in harmony and natural equilibrium with their surroundings. If we become too numerous, Eywa will devise a way to limit their numbers before they cause an ecological imbalance. Over the years of our existence as a nation, we have a healthy respect for their surrounding environment. In return, the environment has provided them with sufficient food and shelter, creatures to ride for ground and air transportation, and an ambient, comfortable temperature throughout one creature, but only for the balance of nature.

At first we were willing to interact with humans, but after concluding that humans had nothing of value to offer to them, they break off contact and start engaging in guerrilla warfare to resist the human's mining operations. The Na'vi have no far-reaching political structures on the scale of nation-states, but are organized into relatively structured clans. Occasionally different clans from far-reaching areas will cooperate in times of great crisis.

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na'vi_language

http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Na'vi

Alliances and Connections:

Russian National Anthem

In 2000, Vladmir Putin altered the song and lyrics of the Russian National Anthem. There were complaints all across the country that the most recent form of the national anthem did not promote nationalism because of the lacking of lyrics. Even though there was great controversy in changing the national anthem, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, when the Russians won the gold medal, they played this version and it has stuck ever since. There have been 6 versions of the National Anthem and each one represents the different time periods and history of Russia well. 

O Russia, for ever you're strong sacred country!
O Russia, for ever the land that we love!
The glory that's great and the will that is mighty -
So be they thy virtue for ages to come.

CHORUS
Praised be the Fatherland, cherishing home of ours -
Cent'ries-old union of peoples in free,
Popular wisdom given us by forefathers.
Praised be our country! And we're proud of thee!

2. From seas in the South and up to polar border
Our woods and our meadows have stretched far away.
Alone in the whole world, you stand one and only!
By God saved as ever our dear native land.

CHORUS

3. For generous dreaming, for living and longing
The years approaching give us ample scope.
With faith in our Homeland we are getting stronger.
It was so, it is so and it will be so!

Sorry that I blogged in the morning, lost my power last night

Japanese and Their Rise to Power

The Japanese had been shelled up on the little island for years. After seeing what happened to their next door neighbors the Chinese be destroyed by the British for shunning western influences, they knew that they had to embrace it. The Japanese had always been agaisnt trading with the westerners like the Americans because of their Shin-To philosophies but after the Opium War in which the Chinese were left in rubble, they knew it was time for a change. This lead to the Meiji Restoration, which resulted in the Shogun steeping down from his position of authority in 1867. With this brought great fortune to the Japanese because of the fact that Americans and other Western nations were willing to give them technology and other tools the Japanese could use because of their new found western philosophy. The Japanese were able to become a force across the world and established themselves as the true Asian Power by successfully defeating the Chinese in the 1900s. Even though they brought in these beliefs to their culture, they keep their Japanese roots and still resented the westerners despite their generosity in terms of technology as we saw in World War 2, in which they used some of the same weapons the Americans supplied them with to fight the Americans. Even though they embraced western philosophy, the Japanese mostly used it for their own benefits to break out of their shell.

http://alumni.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/meiji-resto.html

19th century China: Brief Summary

The Chinese had a strong government with the Ming Dynasty and had achieved great feats in both technology and philosophy. However, after the Opium War, and after the Chinese paid off their debts, they were left with nothing. The Taiping Rebellion would send China into complete chaos for the next 10 years and when the “government” that existed at the time finally managed to put down these rebellions, the emperor tried to bring China back into power. Even with a failing economy and no sense of national pride, he formed a new national army. However, these armies were easily put down and their weak attempt to China’s path to greatness again failed/ China had been thrown for a loop with the opium war and it was not until 1900s when they turned to a republic government, they were able to bring themselves back onto the map. The 1800s were a mess for the Chinese and it can almost entirely be blamed for because of the westerners coming into China and trading to open up trade. Their reluctance caused a war that sent them into a downward spiral that they are just recovering from now.

Sepoy Rebellion: A Religions Movement

I personally believe that the Sepoy Rebellion was not a nationalist effort. Actually it was completely opposite of a Nationalist effort. The Sepoy were separated in their efforts because of the fact that the Muslims and the Hindus were angry at the British for different reasons. They did not fight for the same common believe and they took very different unorganized approaches to defeating the British. If this was a true nationalist effort then the whole nation of Indian natives would be fighting against the British and not different tribes fighting for different reasons. Also, the reason this rebellion was provoked was because of religious reasons and not because they felt that the British were neglecting the Sepoy's pride as a nation. They felt that the British offended both the Muslim and Hindu religions and this was much more of religions movement then a nationalist movement. 

Treaty of Nanjing (Opium War)

The treaty of Nanjing was signed on August 29, 1842. It marked the end of the opium war between the Qing Empire and the British Empire. The treaty heavily favored the British because of the fact that the British had won the won by the end. The British would obtain 21 million dollars when the treaty was signed and would gain another 15 million in the next three years. They would also gain control of numerous ports and cities in China including Hong Kong. The Chinese gained almost nothing from this treaty but it was the only way they could obtain peace. This picture shows the signing of the treaty.

Picture from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nanjingtreaty.jpg

Info from

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/hits?docNum=BT3403700875&tab=4&locID=menlo_schlib&nav=1&origSearch=false&hdb=ALL&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&secondary=false&o=&sortOrder=RE&n=10&l=dE&sgPhrase=false&c=1&tabMap=5&bucket=psm&SU=Treaty+of+Nanjing

Opium Wars

The opium wars took place during the 19th century and had lasting implications on both China and the surrounding nations. The wars were based off of disputes between the China when they were under the Qing Empire and the British Empire. I am going to go into more research about the Opium Wars and their lasting affects on the world. This picture is one of the most famous pictures because it represents the burning of a British trade ship while it was coming into a Chinese port. I am not sure why the text is underlined.