On Wednesday, October 29th you will visit the computer lab after second lunch. You will view an episode of Frontline in preparation for What is the What. Plug in your headphones and click here to visit the PBS Frontline page. View the program "On Our Watch". Post a response to the viewing here by Friday.
7 comments:
In the Darfur documentary, from Dateline, I learned many things I did not previously know. The people of Darfur, Sudan, Africa’s largest country, are part of a genocide led by the Gangaweed. The Gangaweed are people of their very definition. Gangaweed means, devils on horseback, and these men are just that. Darfur is known as the first genocide of the 21st century. As soon as they were in Darfur, the killings started. They killed numbers upon numbers of people, including men women and children. There are estimated between 200,000-500,000 deaths, 2 and a half million driven from their homes, and too many rapes to be recorded. Because Darfur is one of the poorest cities in the entire world, and they are so far away from us here in the United States, less of an action had been taken in previous years to stop the killings. The country is the size of France and consists of 6,000,000 Muslims. Tragic stories are told, and are very graphic. A woman was carrying her child on her back, and the Gangaweed shot the baby, and then took her away, feet from her dead bleeding child, and she was raped by 9 different men. A few people like, Kapilla, and Eric Reeves have tried to make a difference in the way that our government and politicians look at these topics, but it never really seems to click the way it does to visitors of Darfur. Every month 6,000 people are killed, and these people are innocent souls. These people did nothing wrong and still they are getting treated worse than criminals. Mia Farrow, an actor and greatly known activist in Sudan, has traveled and listened to many stories of the people of Darfur. One woman the story of how her entire family was brutally murdered for her to see and then she was raped and beaten and left for dead. It is said that when the Gangaweed people come into their homes, they start by raping the young girls first and then raping the older women later on. Many of these women go to the hospitals where they die. One woman said she could care less to feel safe or unsafe because she would rather die than live anyways. It started getting really bad in 2003 and when this was brought to attention, no action was made on the subject until 2006, and that was after it had spread into surrounding countries like, Chad. Mia Farrow identifies this crisis as, “The very crucible of human suffrage.” In 2007, President Bush called an arms embargo to stop the killing. On July 31, 2007, and agreement was made to send 26,000 troops into Sudan, but there was a catch. The soldiers had to be African. With the Gangaweed still on patrol and still armed, it would have to be a miracle if there was any help given to the Darfur region.
-Ashlee Perrotta
October 29, 2008
Mr.Kefor, Period E
Katie K.
Veiwing these short clips it gave me a whole different veiw of whats really out there and a dose of reality. I never thought really of what was out in other countries and there problems because I barely know what goes on in the Us because there is so much. Genoside is a huge problem that needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Thousands of people from Rwanda, Srebrenica and Darfur are being killed by the minute because of genoside. In the past four years 200,000 people, male, female, old people, young people are being killed and 2.5 million are being driven from their homes.
Not only that but tons of millions are being raped and there isn't anything that can stop this. I just think it's terrible that the United Nations can stop the slaughtering. I feel as though the U.S should step in and help but we are already in so much with the election and our own war to fight that it is going to be tough to stop this nightmare. My feeling about watching these clips is sadness,madness, and overall shocked. I hope sooner then later someone will stop the genoside not just in those parts of the world but all over. I just hope one day everything will be fine and all the genosides will be ended.
I think that events that are occurring in Darfur are horrible. People are killing each other, thousands are starving to death, and tons of women are being raped. Also, there are attacks on people’s neighborhoods; with their homes being burnt to the ground, young babies attacked and left to die in their mother’s arms. No, one is doing anything to help the situation in Darfur.
It’s wrong that the United Nations has stated on numerous occasions that they would do something to help, but continue to do very little if anything. This has to change the U.N. does have to do something to give them major relief. The United States should also go in and help them from the attacks they have to suffer every day.
Sean H
Watching the Darfur documentary gave me a different perspective of what is happening on the other side of the world. Documentaries like this shows people on this side of the world what is happening on the other side of the world that we may not know about. I was aware that incidents like the ones that were shown in this documentary were happening because last year I had joined STAND. It was a club where we would do activities and things to help the people in Darfur. At first it was for Darfur but then it just became about the genocides that were happening. It was really sad to view these clips, to see that such horrible things were happening. "History repeats itself." In Darfur, there is a genocide and when Hitler took over there was a genocide....
- Jessica Schneider
After watching the Dateline video's on the problems of genocide in Darfur i realized how badely other countries have it far worse than we do here in the U.S. We think we have it bad here with our high gas prices and declining economy, dont get me wrong those are very bad isses that i myself wish would be fixed, but atleast here in the U.S. there arent mass genocides of our people. The people of Darfur are being treated Grotesquely, over the past four years 200,000 people have been murdered all including men, women, and children. On top of that women are also being raped by multiple men at once. I recall from one of the videos a women of darfur had her baby shot off her back as she watched him/her die then after being raped by multiple men at once, this should NEVER under any circumstance happen to anyone! I feel very bad for the people of darfur and hope one day nothing like that will ever go on there again.
This video helped me see the problems that other countries face, and realize how much worse they are than the problems that we face here in the United States. In the past four years 200,000 men, women, and Children have been killed, and 2.5 million more people are being driven from their homes. The millions of people in Darfur, Sudan, Africa’s largest country, are part of the “first genocide of the 21st century”. Gangaweed, meaning devils on horseback, are the starters of this genocide. Darfur is one of the poorest cities in the entire world, and therefore, is near defenseless. An agreement was made to send 26,000 troops into Sudan, only if all the soldiers were. United Nations has promised multiple times that they would help, but continue to do nothing.
-Andrew Rockwell
As Bob Dylan said in the song “My Back Pages”, “I was so much older then/ I’m younger than that now.” This statement is the definition of a paradox, but if the song is listened to as a whole, the idea can be seen and the statement is valid. Yet, it is open to interpretation, as to the meaning of what this line means. These lyrics could mean that he is remembering how seriously he took his childhood and that he never just stopped to watch the clouds roll by or have fun. Also, due to the timing of the album’s release it could also be a kind of story of how many of the boys that went over to Vietnam lost their innocence.
As stated, this song could be telling the tale of Dylan’s life and how his childhood was almost nonexistent. It seems as though he is talking about the fact that he forced himself to succeed and now has done so and is making up for lost time. It is also possible that he could be talking about his parents forcing him to grow up and work at such a young age to help support his family and now he is having all the fun and free time he never had as a young boy.
The lyrics in this song may also be construed as a political song. He talks about prejudice and fire and flames. Due to the fact that the album was release in the midst of the Vietnam War and many young men were no longer innocent. As many soldiers and historians will say, many of these eighteen and nineteen year-old boy came home with many delusions and not the same. So the boys were more serious and it took them very long to recover and regain a sense of normality.
In conclusion, there are two clear cut possibilities for the meaning of this song. It is very possible that Bob Dylan may never tell where he gained the concept for this song. That is what makes music so interesting to many people, is that it is open for a persons interpretations and this can make it more relatable for the listener. Even though this line in the song may be a paradox, but it makes for a very good song.
Ross Parlon
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