HW 34 Questions

The role of gold according to Riverbend is very big in Iraq. It is important due to the fact that the recent currency of of Iraq the Dinar kept changing in its worth. It wasn't a solid investment, but gold is. It never changes in its worth and it's dependable. It's also a fashionable to wear your gold on necklaces and other pieces of jewelry so you kill two birds with one stone. The biggest and probably most important value that gold has is that "a few pieces could tide a family over". Hence the term family savings. Date palms are also important to the Iraqi people. Dates are a tasty treat. Ive had personal experienced they are very good. The Iraqi people love dates and they use dates for many different types of food. It's simple yet tasty treat that the people of Iraq love. Also they use the whole tree for making baskets, brooms, mats, and other household objects. They use the trees to make roofing also. The death of palm tree is taken very seriously because the tree can be used for so many things it is a shame to lose. The people of Iraq have many different customs, but the one i respect the most is the "evening tea". The evening tea is exactly what it sounds like. A family would sit down and have tea no matter how stressful the day was. I can totally respect that because first off they just chill and drink tea and second the whole family comes together and hangs out. Now in the west not many families can say they they just sit and hang out. They also have many different types of tea too.

Akila Al-Hashimi "One of the decent members"

Riverbend talks about Akila because of her job and what she had done in the past. Riverbend says she was one of the decent members on the council. Riverbend also said Akila being shot sent a message that no woman is safe no matter how high up she is. Her being shot was a great deal and it stirred up many questions. Like who would want her dead and why. This lady seemed like she really was the first lady to really go against everyone. She really pushed the envelope. She doesn't wear a hijab, she is a woman with power, and she is a woman in general. I really gotta give props to Akila for what she is did. In a society like that change isn't too big of an idea, so for her to do that must have taken a great deal of heart. I also like how upset Riverbend is getting about it, she really cares about whats going on in her country and that makes her that much impressive.

Burning Rumsfeld

I am choosing to look up Donald Rumsfeld because this is a man in which i hear his name so much in the news and i really have no idea who or what he does. He is the secretary of defense and a Republican politician. He led the US invasion into Afghanistan. So i really don't like what hes doing already and i have only one hard fact on him. Within three hours from when the first plane hit on September 11 Rumsfeld raise the US offensive readiness to Defcon 3. The highest it has been for a 30 years. He also was the one who told the soldiers who were running the Abu Ghraib prisons. That they were to use sleep deprivation techniques if the prisoners did not talk. Mr. Rumsfeld seemed like he was having a good run and then it all kind of crashed on him. I am sure he did some good when he was Secretary of Defense, but he is shadowed with too many negatives to see. I am mentioning Rumsfeld because in Baghdad Burning he is mentioned a great deal because he has a lot to do with whats going on in the book.

Citizenship Symposium

The first speaker that i saw was June Cross. The title of the session was called Secret Daughter. This was at Keene State College. The talk began with a Hispanic lady coming out first to talk, cant remember her name. Then June Cross came out and talked for a bit describing who she was and what we were about to watch. Then she put on the movie. The movie was really interesting, the story was that her mom had been with a black man back in the thirties and thats how June had been born. But her mother doesn't like to talk about the incident. And the whole video was June Cross filming herself and other people talking about what happened. The most interesting thing that i got from this session, was that June Cross's mother never was racist. She grew up to hate different races but she never gave in. But now it seems like she has thrown in the towel. All in all it was good experience and i did take a great deal from it.

Patriarchy

In my opinion i think England and many other countries are ruled by a patriarchal society. I mean a good amount of the worlds leaders are men. Also men have always been the more dominant force. Now I am not saying that its right that men have always had power, but I am merely stating a fact. Patriarchy is prevalent in many other cultures and societies. It's not just England. The way that Woolf talks about men tho is so one sided. I know that the male race has made it hard for women to have power, or to seize some sort of power. But how can you chastise a whole sex. I looked at a past issue of the Boston Globe, and if there was a being from a different planet of course he would think that our society is a patriarchal one. There are so many male politicians and so many males that hold power. In any newspaper, I think that there would be an overwhelming amount of male faces that female. Thats not to say that females don't have power. All in all i think that the dominance of the male population in the world and in the media is very overwhelming but there is always room for change.

Breakin Down The Woolf

This book no doubt is easily up there with the most confusing books to read. There aren't really paragraphs and there aren't really pauses in the reading. Also the chapter is a good twenty one pages long. So if a sophomore in high school would actually have to read this book. I would tell him that this is a book about the hardships of women. And the hardships that she has to go through herself. There are many examples of how the women in the book are not shown the respect that they deserve. For instance the fishing scene and the library scene are perfect examples. She also talks about how poor women are. And to do anything women have to have money. The narrator in this story is always interrupted when she is doing something that she enjoys by a man or figure of authority. This is how i would describe this to my little cousin.

The Worst Thing Ive Ever Read

Ann Coulter is easily the worst person on earth right now. Taking away a womans right to vote. After countless women have did all that work to get women to vote. And now shes is basically throwing it back in their faces. She is a disgrace to all women out there. What was running through her head when she wrote that. Its awful and i dont understand it. The fact that she makes fun of the Democratic party for not having enough men supporting them is ridiculous. If it even is true that the Democratic party is mainly supported by women should make her happy. It means that women actually care aobut politics and they have a voice out there. Reading that post just made my day so much worse thank you Anne Coulter. Thank you for ruining my day.