HW:37 second podcast

Gabcast! A Blog of One's Own #34

HW 36: Gabcast

Gabcast! A Blog of One's Own #5



Episode # 5

Letter to my Blog Readers

My blog for my ITW class was the first blog that I had ever kept. Before taking the class I was not even really sure what a blog was. Not only have a learned a lot about politics, literature, and Iraq during the course but I have learned a new form of writing. Blogging is very personal and somewhat casual. I hope people that have read my blog could have perhaps learned about some of the things I have read about, for example some of the articles in Blog! By David Kline and Dan Burstein. Also I hope they could learn about how blogs work and how it is a type of informal writing and you are free to write about whatever you want and share your opinion with literally anybody who has the internet. The works that I feel most proud of on my blog are probably most of my responses to articles in Blog! I feel like I really began to understand a lot more about blogging but reading the book and how much it affects today’s society. Before reading this book I never understood how big blogging actually was. I found it really interesting to read the essays and the interviews about famous bloggers. I think I am most proud of this work is because it is when I really began to understand blogging and what it is all about. After the semester is over I don’t think I am going to continue to blog, however I will probably make the blog private so others can not view my work but keep it for records for what I have done throughout the year. This was definitely an interesting class and it introduced me to a new way of writing, it was fun to experience something different rather then writing numerous different papers or just normal responses.

HW 34: Date Palms and Tea

“Dhuluaya is an area near Sammara, which is north of Baghdad. It’s an area popular for its wonderful date palms, citrus trees, and grape vines. The majority of the people who live in the area are simple landowners who have been making a living off of the orchards they’ve been cultivating for decades.” (Riverbend, 103) There are over 500 different types of palm trees in Iraq, some are short and some are stocky. A date tree never fails to bring a sense of satisfaction, they are the pride and joy of Iraq farmers and landowners says Riverbend. They are a huge part of their culture; no garden is a garden if it doesn’t have a palm tree. Not only are the decorative but they act as homes for birds during the winter that fly to Iraq. In Iraq there are over 300 different types of dates, each one has its own specific name, texture, and flavor. Some may be dark brown and soft while others are bright yellow and crunchy. (Riverbend, 104) These trees are just another example of something that has been taken away from the Iraqi people, soon after occupation many of the palms on the streets were cut down by the troops for “security reasons.”
In Iraq most families gather together in the evening for their “evening tea.” It seems to be away for the people to relax in a casual way, no matter how busy or stressful the day everybody is always gathered around waiting for their tea. “If you serve a teabag tea to an Iraqi, you risk scorn and disdain a teabag is an insult to tea connoisseurs. It speaks of a complete lack of appreciation for the valuable beverage” (Riverbend, 108) Families sit gathered around a small coffee table wit ha tray of tea and something to eat such as biscuits or bread and cheese. One person is known to pour the tea and they are the ones to add sugar. In Riverbend family dad gets two spoons of sugar along with Riverbend. E gets three and mom gets one. They discuss the events of the day and what is going on with the troops, things that they should be aware of. I think that many Americans also have traditions such as the Iraqi “evening tea” for us it may be our family dinner where the family gathers together and talks about everybody’s day.

HW 32: Schopping for school supplies

The topic that I decided to summarize in Baghdad Burning is shopping for school supplies. The blog first starts out with Riverbend saying how every year her cousin S. brings her two daughters to shop for school supplies but ever since the war, she hasn’t let them step outside the house. They don’t have malls in Baghdad so they went to a shopping area and school supplies are sold at “makatib” or a stationary shop that sells everything from toys to desk sets. (Riverbend, 95) Riverbend goes into great detail about the process of shopping for school supplies and the different things that are available to them. I was surprised by this particular blog, which is on pages 94-97 mainly because it reminded me when I used to go shopping for school supplies when I was younger. Riverbend discusses how important it is to buy colorful notebooks and erasers that smell like strawberries and stuff. This definitely reminds me of when I was in elementary school, the colorful notebooks and pens and pencils always seemed much more interesting to me then the plain ones. Riverbend states “The shop assistant looked exasperated when I started smelling the erasers and S. hissed that they all smelled the same anyway. No, they DON”T all smell the same they all taste the same…we went with some strawberry-shaped erasers that oddly enough, smelled like peaches.” (Riverbend, 95) Riverbend seemed to know what exactly what her cousins daughters were going to like for school and had a strong opinion that the more the kids like their school supplies the more they will appreciate them and take good care of them. It was interesting to read about how cautious S. is with her children, they had not left their home all summer long and she was frightened about the upcoming school year and would not be able to feel safe until her daughters got home everyday. Kids going to school in Iraq is something that scares parents, Riverbend also mentioned how parents monitor and look after the school to make sure that their children and neighbors children are safe.

HW 31: Depleted Uranium

I had never heard of depleted uranium before Baghdad Burning. Riverbend caught my attention when she spoke of depleted uranium, she made it sound so horrible and it was surprising me to that I had never heard of it. She stated “I remember depleted uranium…Those are household words to Iraqi people. I remember seeing babies born with a single eye, three legs or no face-a result of DU poisoning.” After reading this it made me want to learn more. Riverbend said that depleted uranium are household words to Iraqi people, meaning that they are familiar with it and most of the have probably been effected by it in some way or another. The depleted uranium weapons used in 1991 have resulted in a damaged environment and an astronomical rise in the cancer rate in Iraq. (Riverbend, 47) Depleted Uranium (DU) is uranium remaining after removal of the isotope uranium-235. It is a waste product of the uranium enrichment process. It is primarily composed of the isotope uranium-238. In the past it was called by the names Q-metal, depletalloy, and D-38, Depleted Uranium is a radioactive material and a chemical material. The principal health consideration of Depleted Uranium is due to chemical toxicity. The organ at greatest risk from chemical toxicity is the kidneys. Of less concern are Depleted Uranium’s radiological hazards. (wikipedia.com) this one paragraph of Baghdad Burning just goes to show another horrible aspect of Riverbend’s life and how many things she actually has to deal with on a day to day basis, something which most of us are not at all familiar with.

Works Cited:

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press, 2005.

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation. 7 Nov. 2007.

HW: 30 Citizenship Symposium 2

The second Symposium session that I attended was on Thursday November 8th. The lecture was titled “Citizenship and Responsibility.” The speaker Tom Lantes was first introduced by his daughter Katrina. His daughter was more than happy to introduce her father, not only is he her father by he is her hero. Tom Lantes was a survivor of the Holocaust and came the United Sates after WWII. “America did not teach man the idea of freedom; she taught how to practice it.” This was a quote from the President of France, whom Tom has established a close relationship with. Lantes spoke very passionately about the United States and how much it means for him to be here; he has made a life for himself in our country even though he only arrived with nothing but 5 dollars in his pocket. He also spoke about the upcoming president and what he should bring to our country. First they must bring our country together domestically, and two they must rebuild the prestige, respect, and status for the United States internationally. He is very concerned with the image of our country and so passionate about his feelings towards our society and the changes that are hopefully soon to come. He questions why our reputation is so much less impressive then it was just a few years ago, and he also stated that people tend to forget about all the positive things the U.S. has done and only focus on the negative aspects of our government. Lantes is very influential and his speech was not only motivating but it made me think about our democracy in a deeper way then before

HW 30:Citizenship symposium 1

The first Symposium session that I attended was on Tuesday, November 6th. Provost Emile Netzhammer started the day off by talking about obligations of citizenship and how it is important for people from the community to get involved, through events such as town meetings. The main speaker of the event was Nancy Tobi; the title of the session was “Citizens Gone Wild.” She addressed the question of “what kind of democracy to we want?” Nancy definitely had an interesting background; she grew up in Lexington Massachusetts, also known as the birthplace of American liberty. The main part of her discussion and what I found most interesting was our government and how people run it. She questioned the actions of our government and the secrecy which voters actually have. She stated that she distrusts the act of “Checks and Balances” and that elections should be fully open and observable. The only secret in an election should be the voter’s ballot. “Government is the servant of the people and not the master of them” This quote was stated by Bev Harris and was mentioned numerous times throughout her speech. Nancy Tobi is an extremely concerned citizen and only wants what is right for the voters. She questions some of the motives of the government. This quote explains that the government should be catering to the people’s needs and wishes, not giving demands and telling them what to do. Tobi gave a very dominating and influential speech, it is important for people to be aware of what is going on with today’s government and to be involved as much as possible.

HW: 28 "An open letter to Riverbend"

After reading your posts from August I began to think a lot more about the war and how it is affecting everybody’s life so dramatically everyday. It was upsetting to read about how scared and alert you have to be all the time, even when you are in your own home. The more and more that I read about your life the more I think about my life here and how lucky some people are and they don’t even realize it. The fact that so many women are not able to attend college anymore or work in their jobs is horrible, people living in the United States need to be reminded about the conditions in Iraq and how peoples lives have changed so drastically due to the war on terrorism, I found your post on Saturday, August 23, 2003 extremely upsetting, you stated:

“Females can no longer leave their homes alone. Each time I go out. E and either a father, uncle, or cousin has to accompany me. It feels like we’ve gone back 50 years ever since the beginning of the occupation. A woman, or a girl, out alone risks anything from insults to abduction.”

It is hard for me to even imagine living like this; I have never had to deal with being scared for my own life in my own home or town. I can’t imagine how devastating it must be to be terrified for your life and watch neighbors homes be invaded and hear of young innocent children dying in just the next town over. Obviously it has hard for me to relate to you Riverbend, but by just reading your posts I have come to learn a lot more about Iraq and the war in general. Though it is definitely upsetting, I think it is important for people to read your blogs and learn more about the every day life in Iraq. I also think that is kind of you to be able to sympathize with the American troops, you are clearly able to see them suffering and wishing that they were somewhere else, I know that some people must only feel hatred towards the troops, but they too are suffering just like everybody else.