We Will End This - Glogster

We Are All Citizens of the World

Just as a mother would protect with her life her own son, her only son,

so one should cultivate an unbounded mind towards all beings, and loving-kindness towards all the world.
One should cultivate an unbounded mind, above and below and across, without obstruction, without enmity, without rivalry.
Standing, or going, or seated, or lying down, as long as one is free from drowsiness, one should practice this mindfulness.
This, they say, is the holy state here.
-Sutta Nipata

The only reason we don’t open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don’t feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else’s eyes.
-Pema Chodron

Although the political repercussions may have serious consequences, it is our moral duty to provide assistance to those who are suffering.  Placing ourselves in the shoes of others we would understand how aid, in a humanitarian crisis, might be the only saving grace between life with hope, or humiliation and a devastating death.  This aid would comfort our families, our communities and ultimately us.

What if it was your brother or sister that was raped and murdered?  What if it was your grandparents that were left by the side of the road, already covered with insects that prey on the decaying?  What if your arm had been amputated out of vicious revenge and was now infected?  No food, no water, no shelter, no medical supplies?  What if every movement you made was overseen by recruited “enemy” children with machine guns?  Would you want someone to come to your aid?

From the relative comfort of our homes we may watch these atrocities on television or on the net.  It is easy to speak condemnation but very difficult to act unselfishly and offer support and help.  It is very unsettling to act outside our own norms, especially when there is no guaranteed outcome.

            Politically, actions to help others can produce a quagmire.  Should our military take action?  Can we afford to send money to those providing relief?  How will the global community react to our actions?  We will never know, for certain, what the future repercussions may be, but we do know the consequences of our inaction.

           

It would serve the United States well to always build a consortium of other nations to consolidate resources and power.  Power used to create pressure on warring peoples to attempt mediations and explore solutions.  Other citizens of the world are exercising their compassion and are ready to offer their assistance.  Groups, like ECHO (European Commission on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection), countries working on their own, like Denmark (recent assistance to displaced people in Pakistan), and even the Chinese government (aid to Haitian earthquake victims), have sent aid to those in need.

           

Imagine…if countries cooperated and shared resources to help those in crisis, maybe we would eventually learn to live in a cooperative and selflessness with each other.  Peace.

           

http://www.ambislamabad.um.dk/en/menu/News/AdditionalDanishHumanitarianAssistanceToPakistan.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/echo/funding/key_figures/ms_en.htm

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/17/content_12826525.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality

http://buddhism.ygoy.com/2007/09/04/77/

A Sparkle Forgotten, but Not Gone

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

-        George Santaya

Dear Madam Principal,

            As an educated person in a highly visible position in our community, it is imperative that your guidelines for curriculum at this school be formulated with integrity and truth.  Future lives depend on it, especially in the realm history.

           

As a junior in high school, I was astonished to find that certain facts regarding large scale genocidal atrocities have been left out of my textbook.  The witnessed and recorded Rape of Nanjing, from December 1937 to March 1938, is missing.  My history lesson today will not be complete or accurate.   The population that was massacred on this date, and the reasons why, are just as important as the populations massacred during the holocaust. 

Beginning in kindergarten, students are trained to find patterns; adding the story of Nanjing into a pattern of ethnic territorialism may have been helpful in understanding the coming crisis of WWII.  Patterns, and lessons learned from those facts, help students understand the early elements of disputes among humanity, especially in areas of ethnic and political differences.  They may apply those lessons learned to help prevent another atrocity.  Students today are leaders of tomorrow.

Another instance of a pattern ignored is the story of Sierra Leone in Western Africa.  No information is available in our textbooks explaining the absolute horror of this war over diamonds.  Territory was savagely fought over and crimes to the population, especially women and children, were almost unimaginable.  The lessons learned from that conflict should be taught to students.   Unrest around the world is blossoming today, and one of the main disputes will be the control of territory with oil reserves and oil shipping lanes.  Oil is today’s diamonds, conflicts will be territorial. We need to find peaceful answers for the sake of humanity.

Teaching the truth about history allows students to fully develop a sense of pre-emptive strategy to avoid conflict.  If the truth is withheld because my class is to “sensitive” to handle the images, then you only need play one game of Modern Warfare to know that students are already exposed and active in a virtual world of violence; win by killing…irony at its best.

           

So, it is important to me that our schools provide the most up-to-date information regarding historical and present day facts. Then, as a bonus, add a class in logic so that we may use sound strategies to solve future problems.

            Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jane Q. Public

Celebration High School       

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/diamond-sl.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana

Cinderella Man Outline

Cinderella Man

-Spouse and children introduced: Mae and 3 children shown in their home in New Jersey – money not a problem, Braddock boxing

-Transition into the Depression era – family living in a very cramped space with barely enough money to keep the lights on

-Suspended from fighting

-Braddock attempts to work on docks to earn money to get by – had trouble with his right hand from boxing, unable to work as efficiently as others, yet was respectable and hardworking nonetheless

-Cared deeply about his family, #1 priority

-Manager gets Braddock a fight against a heavyweight (he is a lightweight), and he turns into the ‘Cinderella Man’ and gave those suffering from the Depression hope—he continues to fight

-Ends up reaching the point where he can fight Max Baer, the #1 heavyweight fighter

-Family worries deeply, Baer has killed men in the ring

-Braddock follows through with the fight against Baer, and WINS.

Guilty by Association: The Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti

Guilty by Association: The Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti

TIME:

1914, Beginning of WWI – August 23, 1927

PLACE:

New England and New York states

POLITICAL MOOD:

Conservative, Patriotic

           

            “Paranoid” might be another term that would best describe the political mood of the United States at this time.  From the beginning of WWI, during the Bolshevik Revolution and through the 1920s, the “Red Scare” turned neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend.  The “Red Scare” was an obsession with, and a fear of, all things associated with communism, socialism, anarchism, or anything deemed “unpatriotic.”  Simply put: patriots (defenders of U.S. involvement in WWI) = good; conscientious objectors, draft dodgers, German-Americans, immigrants, communists, labor unions (“reds”) = bad.

 Reacting to this fear, in October, 1918, Congress passed the Anarchist Exclusion Act, which was a law to control resident aliens involved in anarchism or revolutionary political organizations.  The Sedition Act of 1918 was also passed as a tool to investigate or arrest any person using “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the American government, its flag, or its armed forces.  Congress also expanded the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by creating the Department of General Intelligence.  J. Edgar Hoover was selected as director; he established illegal information files on questionable and ordinary citizens alike.  These Acts demolished civil liberties. Without warrants, thousands of innocent people, including school teachers and professors, were tracked, arrested, questioned, tortured, jailed in deplorable conditions, and/or deported.  People were denied counsel or any contact with the outside world.

SETTING:

Massachusetts

            Influencing the setting at this time were several bombings in New York and other New England states.  Starting in 1914, these bombs targeted judges, businessmen, and elected officials; they killed or injured hundreds of people and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property.  A majority of the bombings were claimed or otherwise assumed to be by the Galleani Anarchists.  The Galleani Anarchists were a group of revolutionaries, established by Italian immigrant Luigi Galleani, who emphatically opposed US involvement in WWI.

              Based in Barre, Vermont (home to many Italian immigrants working in the granite quarries), Luigi Galleani published an anarchist newsletter called the Cronaca Sovversiva.  It called for using violence as the only way to overthrow capitalists who oppressed the working man.  His newsletter actually published bomb-making instructions under the guise of a “Health Is In You” ad.

CRIMES:

December, 24, 1919 -             Four men attempt to rob the payroll truck of the L.Q. White Shoe Company in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.  One shot was fired at the moving truck, but no one was hurt.  The “shotgun bandit” escapes with his cronies.

April 15, 1920 – Two men, Frederick Parmenter and Allesandro Berardelli, are killed in an armed robbery of the Slater & Morrell Shoe Company in South Braintree, Massachusetts.  Two men, armed with handguns, rob the men of $15,776.51 in payroll cash.  The two robbers were picked up by a car carrying other men.

ACCUSED:

Nicola Sacco

            Born in 1891 in Torremaggiore, Italy, Sacco immigrated to the United States in 1908.  He worked at several labor jobs while living in Milford, Massachusetts.  Sacco claims to have had schooling until the age of 14 in Italy.  Married with two children, Sacco found a full-time trade trimming shoes at the Milford Shoe Company.  He eventually settled in Stoughton, Massachusetts where he was arrested in 1920.

           

Proposed “radical” behavior:

-        Helped defend Arturo Giovannitti, an Italian immigrant, who had been arrested   questionable murder charge in 1912.

-        Attended weekly meetings of Circolo di Studi Sociali, an anarchist group, in1913.

-        Subscribed and wrote for Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva newsletter. Collected and donated funds to anarchist activities.

-        Openly opposed WWI.

-        Fled to Mexico for a few months, with Venzetti, to avoid conscription in the US military.

Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Born in Villaffelletto, Italy on 11^th of June 1888, Vanzetti was considered highly intelligent, even though his formal education ended at age 13.  He apprenticed in a grueling pastry shop which initially introduced him to woes of the working class.  He emigrated in 1908, worked in New York City, Connecticut, and Massachusetts at labor jobs and was also homeless for a time. During 1917, while living in Plymouth, Massachusetts and working as a fish peddling, Vanzetti applied for US citizenship.  After a brief stint living in Mexico and the Midwest, Plymouth, Massachusetts was his home until his arrest in 1920.

Proposed “radical” behavior:

-        Read and enjoyed political philosophy.

-        Read, wrote and donated money to Cronaca Sovversiva, Galleani’s anarchist newsletter.

-        Went to weekly anarchist meetings.

-        Was a member of the Brini clan.

-        Openly opposed WWI.

-        Fled, with Sacco, to Mexico for a few months to avoid US military conscription.

PROSECUTION EVIDENCE/DEFENSE EVIDENCE:

Armed Robbery/Vanzetti - L.Q. White Shoe Company Robbery in Bridgewater, Massachusetts

PROSECUTION EVIDENCE

1. When Sacco and Vanzetti were initially arrested for the South Braintree, MA robbery and murders, Vanzetti had shotgun shells in his coat pocket.  This led the authorities to believe he was the “shotgun” bandit from the L.Q. White Shoe Company in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

2. Vanzetti lies to police regarding his politics, guns, why he was in Bridgewater and denies knowing other anarchists.

3. Vanzetti tells same lies to the District Attorney. 

4.  Vanzetti previously linked in 1918 to Cronaca Sovversiva when newsletter offices were raided by police.

DEFENSE EVIDENCE

1. The shotgun shells, in this case, were apparently never examined by an expert.  Without any other evidence, the shells could have been linked to ANY murder or NO murder at all.  Authorities made assumptions with no other evidence.  

2. /3. Vanzetti had extremely limited knowledge of the English language.  Questions and answers could have easily been misunderstood, especially if the questions, by police and DA, were misleading. 

4. Supporting a controversial newsletter does not make a person a robber 

5. Judge Webster Thayer committed several acts unbecoming to a judge when he publically spoke out regarding the biased instructions he was going to give the jury.  He also told a court stenographer: “get the hell out of here” while she was legally trying to record a sidebar conversation.

VERDICT:

Bartolomeo Vanzetti found guilty of attempted, armed robbery at the L.Q. White Shoe Company in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.  Judge Thayer sentences him to 12 -15 years in jail.

CONCLUSION:

It appears that the judge and jury were using Vanzetti’s political views, and Italian immigrant background, to convict him of a robbery.  There was absolutely no evidence supporting the Prosecutions case.  A motion for re-trial could have been submitted to the courts based on the comments of the Judge and/or the lack of solid evidence.  A motion to appeal could have been made by the Defense; there was not enough time to gather eyewitness, or evidence on behalf of the defendant because the trial was scheduled and concluded so quickly.  Vanzetti was innocent.

PROSECUTION EVIDENCE/DEFENSE EVIDENCE:

Armed Robbery and Murder of Two Employees – Slater & Morrill Shoe Company, South Braintree, Massachusetts

 PROSECUTION EVIDENCE

1. Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested in Brockton, Massachusetts.  Vanzetti had shotgun shells in his pocket and a gun.  Sacco had a gun in his pocket.

2. After exhausting a pool of 500 jurors, the Judge orders police to round up more potential jurors. 

3. Eyewitnesses Carrigan, Bostock, Wade, Splaine, Pelser, Andres, LaCangie, Dolbeare, Heron, Tracy, Goodrich positively identify both men in their testimonies before jury.

4. Arresting Officer Connolly claimed Sacco and Vanzetti reached for their guns upon arrest.

5. Employees of Ivers Johnson Company claim Vanzetti had “same kind of gun” that murdered victim Verardelli. 

6. Sacco’s boss testifies cap found at scene was similar to one Sacco wore.

7. “Ballistics” expert testifies shells found in Vanzetti’s pocket “consistent” with those fired by Sacco’s gun, but not identical match.

8. Eyewitnesses chosen because they thought perpetrators looked Italian.

9. Political beliefs thoroughly examined.

10. Testimony from witnesses claim the Buick, found in East Bridgewater, was the same one used in the robbery/murder.

 DEFENSE EVIDENCE

1. Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and searched because they were “suspicious characters”, a judgment made solely by the arresting officer and made possible by the Anarchist Exclusion Act. 

2. “Potential” jurors could be questioned about their political and racial beliefs benefitting the prosecution.

3. Witnesses, upon Cross-examination, recanted their testimony.

Carrigan, Bostock, Wade – could not identify anyone.

Splaine – Couldn’t absolutely identify Sacco in get-away vehicle.

Pelser – Never saw robbery; claims the DA pressured him to falsely identify Sacco

Andrews – retracts her original statement saying government forced her into identifying Sacco and Vanzetti.

Heron, Tracy – Claim they saw the Defendants in East Braintree the day of the robbery, but not at the scene of the crime.

Goodrich – Was a known felon, testified under a false name and was given a deal by the DA to indentify the Defendants in exchange for dropping a larceny charge.

4. No eyewitnesses to this event.

5. Same kind of gun does not mean it was the exact gun.  Testimony possibly made by people not familiar with different types of guns.

6. Cap does not fit Sacco, ala OJ.7. “Ballistics” expert testifies shells found in Vanzetti’s pocket “consistent” with those fired by Sacco’s gun, but not identical match.

7. Expert recants testimony and claims’ using the word “consistent” was prearranged by the DA to deliberately mislead the jurors into believing it actually was Sacco’s gun.

8. Racial profiling.

9. Political beliefs do not imply guilt.

10. Zero evidence connects Sacco or Vanzetti to the Buick.

  

VERDICT:

Nicola Sacco found guilty of murder in the first degree.

Bartolomeo Vanzetti found guilty of murder in the first degree.

SENTENCE:

Nicola Sacco sentenced to death by electrocution.

Bartolomeo Vanzetti sentenced to death by electrocution.

UNRESOLVED EXTENUATING CURCUMSTANCES:

Further research on the Sacco and Vanzetti case reveals other interesting facts that were not mentioned in the trial nor taken into consideration when motions for a retrial were denied eight times by Judge Webster Thayer (who had previously convicted Vanzetti of armed robbery); an appeal was denied once by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

-        Police questioned many Italian immigrants regarding this case; it appears that Sacco and Vanzetti were chosen as suspects simply because police believed they needed the money to support their anarchist activities. 

-        Sacco and Vanzetti were carrying guns.  The guns were never linked to the case.

-        Both Sacco and Vanzetti had reliable alibis. The prosecution revealed that those providing support of alibis were Italian Immigrants.

-        Neither defendant could speak English.  It was apparent that the answers they gave in court meant they did not understand the question.

-        Were painted as “unpatriotic” because they fled to Mexico during the war.

-        Were questioned extensively on their political beliefs.

-        Judge Thayer denied a motion for retrial even though in 1925 Celestino Madeirios confessed to being a member of the gang that killed the employees of the shoe company.  Madeirios also named the four other people involved in the robbery.

-        The Morelli Brothers were never investigated even though they were criminals who committed similar robberies in Massachusetts.

CONCLUSION:

            Considering the cloud of immigrant prejudice, the atmosphere of the “red scare” during the time of this trial, and the absolute lack of evidence by prosecutors, it is clear that Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti, were made the scapegoats of fear.  Authorities, under huge pressure by the public, needed to demonstrate their ability to keep America safe.  The continuous bombings by known anarchists kept the anxiety level high.  Motions for retrial were denied despite new evidence. This case was a mockery of the justice and political freedoms that the American people were desperately trying to protect.

http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/encyclopedia/galleaniluigi.htm

http://crime-scene-investigation.net/dutydescription.html

http://www.mirandarights.org

http://www.google.com/images

http://www.torremaggiore.com/saccoevanzetti/english.html

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/SaccoV.htm

Scopes This Out!

            Around 1925, State Representative and head of The World Christian Fundamentals Association, John W. Butler, lobbied legislators to pass anti-evolution laws in their states.  Only one state, Tennessee, took the bait. The Scopes trial, financed by the American Civil Liberties Union, took John T. Scopes, a high school teacher, to trial because he had taught lessons regarding evolution to his class; a clear violation of the Butler Act.  Scopes was found guilty, but on appeal the Tennessee Supreme Court set aside the verdict because of a technicality in the case.  The case was argued in small town America, but received national attention.

            This evolution vs. religion paradox still receives much attention; it is a class assignment!  However, just reviewing the definitions of a few words would seem to put this debate to rest.

            Science – a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts; systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.

            Religion – a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

            Evolution is based on science.  Although still a theory, using the scientific method of gathering data, formulating a hypothesis and then testing the hypothesis, scientists will continue to reveal new evidence regarding the origin of our species.  Science will continue to search for facts, never stopping.  The discovery of data and research may take hundreds of years, and the development of technical equipment we could not even image today, but the quest will never end. Teaching evolution in school is teaching students exploration, and discovery based in facts.  Give science time to find the answer.

            Religious beliefs are static answers to questions that cannot be solved in the now.  These beliefs are valid to each specific religion. The beliefs are theories, too, but the difference is that there is no quest for evidence other than faith.  Teaching creationism or other religious theory would require students to accept just one explanation, agreed upon by a number of persons or sects, as correct.  For those interested in religious beliefs regarding the origins of the species, an elective class should be offered at school or they can attend the religious services of their choice.

       

Topic.07 Study Guide!

1925 The Scopes Trial
-Biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution to his students.
-AKA The Monkey Trial
-Lots of media attention and national publicity
-Scopes was found guilty originally, but verdict was overturned
-Creation/Evolution controversy demonstrated: contradicted the Bible
-After, evolution was more widely taught in schools


1920 (January) Prohibition
-Pushed by women's organizations (drinking increased domestic violence and child abuse)
-Henry Ford believed that without drinking, there would be better work ethic.
-18th Amendment: banned manufacture and sale of alcohol (NOT consumption, possession, or transportation!)
-The IRS was the main enforcer of Prohibition
-Prohibition actually created more bars (speakeasies) than before
-"Bootleggers" "Moonshine" "Bathtub Gin" "Rum Runners"
-Most rum came from Canada
-1933, 21st Amendment past, repealing 18th amendment (FDR)


Flappers
-Wild ladies of the 1920's
-Showed their gams, smoked, drank
-"New Americans"
-Wore lots of makeup
-Did not follow societal sexual norms
-Jazz music
-Redefined women's roles
-Advocated for women's rights


1920 Economic Issues
-Demand
        -Credit for consumers
        -Low interest rates
        -Intro of the installment plan (such as: monthly payments)
-Credit cards, building up debt
-Stock market speculation
        -Buying on a margin, if stock market went down, you'd be in lots of debt with the stock brokers!


Dust Bowl
-Severe dust storms
-Caused by drought and extensive farming without crop rotation
-Deep plowing of topsoil displaced grasses that rooted down the soil
-Over 500,000 Americans left homeless
-Americans migrated west (largest migration in American history in the shortest period of time)
-FDR created government organizations to help


Agriculture Issues
-No crop rotation and deep plowing caused dust storms
-Collapse in prices
-Long term agricultural depression
-Farmers overproducing with new machinery after the war effort, no longer needed as much food


1920 Immigration Policies
-USA can thrive without immigrants
-Opposition of quotas disappear (restrictions on # of immigrants)
-Emergency Quota Act of 1921: ethnic groups limited to 3% of 1910 population
-National Origins Act of 1924: ethnic groups limited to 2% of 1890 census (no Asians though!)
-Laws became more strict


Nativism
-Americans were for isolationism following the end of WWI
-Immigrant restrictions
-Afraid of Communism spreading
-Go America!
-KKK used Nativist rhetoric and reemerges 3 million strong


1920 Significant Literary Works
-Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck)
-Main Kampf (Hitler)
-The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
-Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck)
-The Jungle (Sinclair)
-Unsafe at Any Speed (Nader)
-How the Other Half Lives (Riis)
-The Ways of White Folks (Hughes)


The Great Migration
-Appx. 7 million African Americans move North
-Escaping widespread racism of the South
-Better employment and education opportunities
-Rapid increase in African American population


Harlem Renaissance
-African American artistic movement
-New York City
-Music
-Writing
-Dance
-A new black identity
-An explosion of culture which had never happened before
-Caused by the Great Migration


Sacco and Vanzetti
-Italian Anarchists
-Accused and charged with robbery and murder
-Sentenced to death
-During the Red Scare
-Controversy - confusing evidence
-Foreign = bad (attitude of USA)


1920 Labor Issues
-Unions were suppressed
-Welfare
-Wages increased, work time decreased
-LOTS of strikes
-Unemployment rate = 5%
-Lack of leadership in labor movement


The Red Scare
-Afraid of Communism
-Bolshevik Revolution
-Lenin comes to power in Russia (Soviet Union: USSR)
-Afraid of un-American behavior and foreigners
-Palmer Raids: arresting un-Americans without evidence (Espionage & Sedition Acts)


Schenk vs. USA
-Upheld Espionage Act
-Schenck's conviction was decided constitutional
-Schenck sent letters to draftees saying that the draft was motivated by capitalists