Pros and Cons of Imperialism

Pros
1. Modernized Africa
2. Inventions brought into Africa
3. Medications brought into Africa
4. Bringing out the natural and raw resources
5. Religion brought into Africa
6. Attempted to civilize Africa
7. Education and job opportunities
Cons
1. Africans being enslaved
2. Severe beating
3. Humanity denied
4. Racism
5. Lands taken away by Europeans
6. Rich natural resources taken away
7. Freedom taken away
8. Forced work and labour
9. Failed civilization and control of Africa
Net Effect: Overall, the issues in Africa today can be blamed on the Europeans from imperialism. There more obviously more cons than pros from imperialism, therefore you can conclude.

History and Culture

Various European countries settled in East Africa in the 1200s. During that period of time, Christianity and Islam were introduced to many African countries in East Africa, and they continued to spread. Because of the settlements of the Europeans, many Africans were enslaved and kidnapped in the 1700s. Zanzibar became the international slaved trading center. The colonies influenced the languages spoken in the African countries today. For example, French is the official language in Rwanda, Burundi, and Djibouti. As for Ethiopia and Somalia, they speak Amharic and Somali. Many other languages such as English and Arabic are spoken in different parts of East Africa depending on who colonized which areas. While the languages spread, many religions such as Christianity and Islam were influenced upon the East Africans.

The Scramble for Africa

We attempted to claim South Africa, which is the country with almost all the sources we needed. Because we got to roll the dice multiple times, each with the highest number, we got to take over a huge amount of land area. South Africa, the country which everyone desired, was one of our key success reasons. One of the mistakes we made, however, was accepting other countries' deals and bargaining. In the end, we learned not to accept them.
I think we, France, won the scramble of Africa because we managed to claim most of the lands we needed and the gain the resources we needed. We managed to get diamond from South Africa, petroleum and zinc from the Somalian area. I think the British lost in the scramble for Africa game because they lost all their lands, claimed none, lost their resources, and controlled the lands that they didn't need.

Orange Brand to Launch in Uganda

Mobile services have launched in Uganda by the French company, Hits Telecom. Uganda, with a population of 30 million, now has about five million users of telecoms. Across Africa, mobile phone connections are rapidly outpacing landlines and bringing cheap communications to rural areas. This is generally helping Uganda because this service is definitely needed; therefore, the launching of this service is very helpful for the citizens of Uganda. The growth of mobile phones is seen by some experts as helping to bring rural areas out of poverty.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7679459.stm

Summarizing East Africa Reading

East Africa is a spectacular landscape. It ranges from rivers, valleys, highlands, plains, and lakes. Rift valleys are places on Earth's surface where the crust stretches until it breaks. Because the landscape varies, the climate and vegetation on a mountain as high as Mount Kilimanjaro would be harder to vegetate. As for a flatland like the Serengeti Plain, a land with grasses, trees, and many rivers, it is easier to vegetate. In order for all the wildlife animals in East Africa to survive, there are many lakes and rivers, including Lake Victoria and the Nile River, the largest river in the world. The climates of East Africa generally depends on the distance away from the equator and the level of elevation; the closer and higher one is, the more rain and snowfall one gets, and the farther away and lower one is, the drier it is. Droughts are caused by very little rainfall and results the crops being damaged.

'Can You Trust the To Be A Slave?'

Julius Lester, an African American who had had a high degree in education wrote the book To Be A Slave. Lester received a B.A. in English from Fisk University in 1960. Also, he had a talk radio show on WBAI FM from 1966-1973, hosted a television talk show on WNET from 1969-1971. Lester had written 43 books, and over the years, he had received the Newberry Honor Medal, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, National Book Award Finalist, National Jewish Book Award Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, Boston Globe, Horn Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award. Numerous titles have also appeared on the New York Times Outstanding Book list and American Library Association Notable Book list. He had also published over 200 hundred essays and reviews in such publications as the New York Times Booko Review, New York Times Op-Ed Page, Boston Globe, Village Voice, The New Republic, Forward, and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. After teaching for two years at the New School for Social Research in New York (1968-70), he joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts in 1971 where he was a professor in the Judaic and Near Eastern Studies Department, and adjunct professor of History. And over there, he received numerous awards. After that, Lester For ten years he served as lay religious leader of Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Therefore, the information in the book To Be A Slave can easily be trusted because Lester, who's formal education level is beyong common, would most likely provide accurate facts that have actually occured in the slavery ages. The majority of the information from this book come from the interviews of the survivors from the African slavery ages. Therefore, you should easily conclude that they shhould be trusted.

Hunger Levels Soar in East Africa

The nations of East Africa are suffering from hunger, drought, and the rocketing food prices. John Holmes, the top UN humanitarian official, states that what they need essentially is more funds. 75 million more people have been pushed into the ranks of world's hungry last year, which brings the total up to 950 million people. Nearly 17 million people in the Horn of Africa are is in urgent need of food and other aid; almost twice as many as earlier this year, the UN has said.The total number of money needed for the nations is $1.4 billion. Though almost half of that had been raised, there remains a shortfall of $715 million. $700 million (£382 million) emergency aid is needed to prevent the region from descending into full scale famine.
This article is critical because it shows how life is like in the most of East Africa; and how effective it is. It also shows the world community is not allowing this to happen, therefore they are doing what they can to help the East African nation. Though, there are still many suffering from drought, hunger, and the food price.s
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7626562.stm

5 Themes of Geography

Movement - People around the place go to Tokyo, either to live or visit, and perhaps move away again.
Region - You can tell this place is most likely in South East Asia because of the language written on the shops, which is Japanese. Also, most people in this picture are Asians except for this one woman, who clearly stands out, right in the middle.
Human Environmental Interaction - The shops are man made, the roads, and everything else in this picture. People wear short sleeves and shorts or skirts because the temperature is probably humid or too warm for sweaters or other thicker clothes.
Location - The relative location is most likely somewhere in Japan because you cannot determine where it is in exact, but you definitely can tell it is in Japan. Also, you see how clean and tidy the streets are, therefore it cannot be at a place like China which is not fully developed yet.
Place - Japanese, the language of Japan, is written all over the shop banners in this picture. The clean streets, the people, the way the shops are set up like, and how there are no stars on the sky.

"Violence leads to more violence"

"Violence leads to more violence"
I think this quote is true. In the play, Brutus, Cassius, and Casca stabbed Caesar. This act caused more violence, not only within their own circle, but within the citizens as well. When someone uses violence to attempt to solve a problem, the people the person uses violence on will react aggressive and cause more violence. From line 220 to 222 on page 123, the citizens said, "Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live." That shows how violence causes more violence. The reasons can be complex, but mainly emotions, respects, and perhaps pitiness towards the person.

Leaders of 8th Grade

The qualities of a good leader are quite simple and straight forward. A good leader should not be afraid to speak up, participate as much as possible, able to be trusted by others, act with enthusiasm, confidence, and calmness, be able to think by keeping the main focus in mind, and committes to excellence. Aysha is the 8th grade leader. She demonstrates the qualities of a good leader by participating as much as possible, act with enthusiasm, confidence, and calmness. She is not afraid to speak up, and perhaps speak her mind, in front of a big group.

Case Studies in Imperialism

The two common methods used in imperialism are force and promise. Stronger nations take over the weaker countries by military force or they promise for better deals, though they never usually keep their promises. There are three types of motivations that inspire that cause imperialism. The first one is gold, which is probably the foremost important reason. For example, the British empire decided to take over the Indian empire for their natural resources, raw materials, and labours. The second motivation is glory. Stronger leaders like the feel of gaining power and having to control weaker nations. For example, the European people wanted to expand their landmass because they the industrial revolution was going on at the time. By expanding, they would get the glory of being the richer nations of the world at the time. Lastly, the third motivation that inspires people to cause imperialism is God. The Christians and Catholics, mostly Catholics, wanted to spread their religions to the weaker nations. This was done by force and perhaps the belief change within the people themselves.

New Goals for Quarter Two

1. Get an A- or above in humanities.
2. Improve Socratic Seminar grades to a B or above.
3. Turn in more completed daily assignments and put more effort in bigger projects.

Reflection on Quarter One Goals

I did not achieve all my goals because I did not get an A in humanities, I did not get above 92% for all quizzes. Though, I did get a slightly higher grade for the IR Socratic Seminar. For first quarter, I got a 14/25 for the Outsiders Socratic Seminar, but for the IR Socratic Seminar, I got a 17/25, which is a slightly improvement.

Analysis of the Capitalism Cartoon

The main visual element is the bigger sized man wearing a tag named 'Capitalism'.
Capitalism leaders earn money by forcing them out of the labors. The cartoonist most definitely does not approve of the economy system 'Capitalism'. He was showing how the leaders of Capitalism insist of money from labors by force although they were doing nothing. The cartoon shows how unfair the economy system is. This fact is quite obvious from the cartoon because the author makes the violence and force very clear and the fact that the money originally came from the labors. Also, in terms of the size of the men, you can tell the leaders of Capitalism are richer because they 'steal' money from the labors, so therefore, they may have better living conditions to eat and drink whatever their needs insisted of. Although the main point is already clearly stated in this cartoon, the cartoonist could perhaps add a clearer image of how the force was done because you cannot picture it.

Cite image: http://mrcoyle.edublogs.org/files/2008/09/capitalismcartoon-246x300.jpg

Reflection on Goals for Quarter One

The goals are not met because I wanted an A for Humanities, but at the moment I have a B. Although the grade is not too terrible, I did not meet my goal. The other goal, which is keeping up test scores, is met. I have been able to do above 92 percent on all tests. The other goal will improve if I keep up with the Socratic Seminar s, quizzes, and bigger projects.

'Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.'

'Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.'
The third tip of all ten of Mr. Coyle's investment tips personally relates to me the most.
During the investment game, I desperately bought the shares without a second thought to any of them, which obviously caused a huge destruction at the end. Because the shares rose to higher prices, I immediately decided to buy them. I let the emotions get the best of me. For example, when the steel industry prices were rising, I purchased many of them instantly, but the industry ended up falling. I should have waited a little longer and think of other possibilites instead. Overall, I've learnt a lot from this investment game.

Industrial Revolution Pluses and Deltas

Pluses:
1. Because of the textile industry revolution where the machines were created, the prizes of products dropped, which is beneficial for the citizens.
2. The increased numbers of factories caused the increased numbers of workers. More citizens were employed.
3. The life expectancy of the country grew because the wealth of the nation grew; therefore, citizens were able to keep a steady health.
4. The efficiency of productivity grew rapidly because of the machines that were created.
Deltas:
1. Many people’s lives were lost in the process of terminating the operations started by the Luddites.
2. Some factories and machines were destroyed because of the Luddites.
3. The inventions of the English were unfortunately copied, which caused the industrial revolution in the United States.
4. The industrial revolution caused the forced separation within families.

Factory Game Two

In Factory Game Two, we made items out of the formation of an assembly line, which is the efficent method of mass production. An assembly is a much efficent way of producing products because it is organized as to different people assemble different parts of the item, in our case, it was the pig. A manager manages the production and it helps the organization when the assembly line goes out of order. Because different people managed different parts of the pig, we were able to make over thirty pigs in forty minutes. The first pig, however, took twenty minutes because we were not able to manage the assembly well enough to keep the process efficent. In comparison to Factory Game One, this one was much more productive and efficient. Although the production was much greater, the management was definitely much more difficult for several different reasons. Fore example, some people may be delayed for a few minutes, which in this case made a huge difference, or some parts maybe incomplete. Not everyone were able to understand what they were supposed to do, therefore, there were a lot of misunderstanding and disorganization within the assembly line. In the end, however, an Assembly Line is easily a much better way to produce items, as you may reflect upon reality in factories where they produce items mostly out of this process.

Factory Game One

Before the industrial revolution, peasants made all their objects by hand and materials that perhaps were not so great. Creating an object out of my own imagination and ability was hard. However, the process was sure not as complex and difficult as it would have been for the peasants before the industrial revolution. Out of paper and cutting, I managed to put together an object that could seemingly be a present. The entire object was made of different papers and cutting. The process was sure not hard as the process of making objects back then were. Though, I have learnt a lot from today's Factory Game.

Roller Coaster Experience

When I was younger, I've always wanted to go on a roller coaster. They've always fascinated me. The first day I stepped out into the amusement, staring up at the roller coaster, I knew my little childhood dream was coming true. I stepped forward nervously as I approached the roller coaster. The giant monsterlike structure stood there, tall and magnificent. Colorful pictures were painted on the surfaces. The lights from the wooden roller coaster lit up the darkening evening sky. All around there were kids laughing and squealing while screams rang out from the Scrambler. I watched as the roller coaster came speeding toward us, slowly descending its speed as it approached. As I stepped in, I could feel the soft leather floor. The cushion sunk as soon I sat down, leaning back. The breeze brushed across my cheeek, mixed with sand and the strong smell of earth. I felt like a new born baby, ready to experience something new, something as wistful. My eyes were the street lights that glowed as the roller coaster began to catch its speed. The sudden acceleration caused me to lean forward, pressing against the seat in front. Elevating steadily, the roller coaster led me and every other person on the ride, heading up toward the sky, the darkening clouds. An ocean of orange dyed across the sky, creating a sky so bright. I could feel the tensions inside me build me uneasily as I swallowed hard. I looked down at the buildings, now like legos. Like a bird flapping its wings, I shot both my hands up high, getting ready for the descend. Magically, my hands stayed up. The speed made it impossible to pull it down. Though, however, that wasn't all I had to worry about. I could feel my hair being pulled on the opposite direction, forcing its way back. A second flew by. Two seconds flew by. Three seconds. It was over. The roller coaster slowly descended, approaching the side, once again. I stepped out, stoned.

'Necessity if the Mother of Invention'

The phrase 'Necessity is the mother of invention' may have different meanings for different people. To me, the phrase has a specific meaning. Without ever having to need anything, nothing would have been invented. Necessity plays a key role in the beginnings of inventions. Improving yours and others lives can bring about many necessities that must be dealt with. In order to improve, people try to invent. Telephones would never have been created if people were not looking for a more efficient way to transfer their messages. Airplanes would never have been created if people were not looking for a better way, which includes speed, efficiency, and perhaps safety, to transport. Radios would never have been created if people did not think the need of knowledge and current news was important. The newest invention that has perhaps taken over telephones as well as mailing physically is the internet. Necessity plays an important role in this invention as well any other. The people realized they needed a faster, more efficient way of communication and perhaps an easier way to publicly announce informations. Without knowing what we need, we would not have even realized what we need in our lives.
Cite Image: http://k41.pbase.com/u39/golfpic/upload/25325666.car1.jpg

Quarter 1 Goals

1. Get an A in Humanities.
2. Get above 92% on all tests.
3. Get a better average grade on all quizzes, Socratic Seminars, and bigger projects.

My Gang

There are not that many people that I can be comfortable around with. However, there are quite a few people that I can be myself with. Back in Taiwan, I used to go to a center where there are other English speaking students. The point is to continue to improve my skills and not forget. I have always liked it there, and I liked English better than Mandarin. There are quite a few people from the US, Australia, England, Italy, and people who have been leaving outside the country and do not know much English that I was closer to. Although I left the center ever since I came here, I still kept in touch with all of them. The distance did not matter.
Besides the center, I had friends in the school I used to go to. The previous school was much tougher in the areas of homework and class expectations. I was pretty much close to every single one of the students from our class, which included thirty two students. Little by little, however, we became to draw apart. Clicks and groups became to form, and I had my own. I enjoyed the times back there.
Coming to AES was a terrifying thought at the beginning. India, as commonly knowledgeable, is not the best to be at, absolutely not. On the first day of school, I knew the feeling when I was around the special people I would stay friends with throughout the year. To be continued.