HW 30: "Blogging: Are All Citizens Publishers and Reporters?"

On Friday, November 9th, at Keene State College's Citizenship Symposium, a panel of experts discussed the question, "Blogging, Are All Citizens Publishers and Reporters?" The panel was composed of three males, Mike Caulfield a Blue Hampshire blogger, Jim Rousmiere, the Keene Sentinel executive editor, and Emile Netzhammer who is Keene State's Academic Affairs Provost and Vice President. A missing panelist, to my disappointment, was Laura Clawson of the Daily Kos. The discussion was held in the Main Theater of the Redfern Arts Center with a low turn out of about 40 people. Emile's view on blogs and other means of Internet interaction is that today's younger generation is morphing from traditional ways of education. In older generations, people learned by reading textbooks. Today, however, most individuals under age 30 want to create content on things like blogs and wikis rather than memorizing a book. Mike, who was previously a journalist, now turned blogger, got into blogging so he was allowed to do something different than traditional journalism. At the beginning of his bloggging career, Mike educated people about Charlie Bass, which in turn eventually got him out of office. Jim, the oldest member of the group, made three points about journalism and blogging. The first was disclosure, which is when a journalist uses their name when they write articles but bloggers sometimes use false names on their posts. The use of opinions versus facts; journalists use facts while blogs tend to be biased based and opinionated. The last point Jim made was that blogs are "written to the choir" while journalists write for the general public. The most interesting point made by all three of these men was that protection should be given not only to journalists but to bloggers as well. "When bloggers do journalistic activities, they should be protected by the shield law" (Mike Caulfield). Both journalists and bloggers alike should be granted equal protections and I found this an interesting point. When bloggers are participating in actions like a journalist would, they deserve every safety that a regular journalist receives.

HW 30: "Citizen Soldiers and Global Warriors: Challenges of Iraq"- Scott Ritter

On November 8th, Scott Ritter, who is the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, spoke at Keene State College's Citizenship Symposium. The topic at hand was, “Citizen Soldiers and Global Warriors: Challenges of Iraq.” Scott was the U.N. weapons inspector for seven years and he also served in the Marine Corps for 12 years. Scott's speech started out with his definition of each part of the topic's title starting with "citizen." A U.S. citizen is determined by if a person is born in the U.S. or if they immigrated here. The rights of a citizen are written in our country's constitution, which is the "foundation" for Americans. The term soldier as defined by Scott with his pink face and loud, carrying voice, is a citizen who, "up holds and defends America against domestic and foreign affairs." Not only does a soldier protect the U.S. from other countries attacks but they are also defending us here at home. "Global" is the world as a whole, and a "global warrior" is someone who is "deployed in harms way" by the government. The problem with the global warrior is that the U.S. believes that it has control over the world and that America is the world. The United States government thinks it has the right to tell other countries what to do and how to govern themselves. The way in which we make sure that other countries follow in the path that we see fit for them is by the use of military. If a country does not comply with the rules that are set for them by the U.S, then the military will take necessary action in order to make the country do so. To me, the saddest part of the U.S. treating the rest of the world as inferiors is that when I go to visit another country, I am no longer seen in the same light I would have been if I visited 10 years ago. In the past, American citizens were generally accepted and respected by other countries. Today, however, the majority of the world's population hates and despises the U.S. I don't blame them and in fact I agree with them and to an extent I am ashamed to belong to a country that has done so much wrong to the rest of the world.

HW 30: June Cross' documentary: "Sercet Daughter"

On Tuesday, November 6th at 7pm, June Cross presented her documentary, "Secret Daughter," during Keene State College's Citizenship Symposium. June is a journalist who graduated from Harvard and she is an associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. June was born in the early 1950's to a white mother, Norma Stouch, and a black father, James "Stump" Cross. In 1996, June decided to do a documentary on her life and how she was kept a secret to many because of her race. Since June parents were of different races, this was seen as morally and socially unacceptable for a black man and a white woman to be together. The "Secret Daughter" documentary describes June's life as a child and as an adult of mixed race and the impact it had on her family. June's father, Jimmy or "Stump", was a black comedian, and her mother, Norma, was an aspiring actress. When June was four, her mother gave her to a black couple that was friends of the family. Norma's explanation for giving June away to be raised by the black couple was because she thought it would be best for June and for her, "I won't get in her way and she won't get in mine" (Norma). June would fit in better with the black community and Norma was able to protect herself from the shame of having a black child. Norma was also seeing at this time a famous actor, Larry Stouch, who she later married. Norma and Larry decide to keep the truth about June a secret because Norma feared that it would hurt Larry's career if people found out that she had a black child. The most interesting part to me was when June explains how she feels towards her mother about having her raised by the black family, "She loved me enough to give me away" (June). To be able to accept an idea like that takes a very strong person and obviously June is. At the end of the documentary, June, who had long, brown dread locks and a colorful sweater on, answered a few questions from the audience. "Secret Daughter" is a must see and it depicts a story that I am sure many others have had to endure.

HW 31: Al Jazeera all Over the World

"Baghdad Burning" is written by Riverbend, a young Iraqi woman living in Baghdad, Iraq during the invasion of the United States in 2003. Riverbend writes in the form of blogs on the Internet and tells of the trials and tribulations of everyday life in Iraq while it is amidst a bloody war. One evening, Riverbend is watching a show on TV on the Arabic news channel, Al Jazeera. The show hosted three different female Iraqi's for a debate dealing with Iraq, "The discussion was regarding how much women's rights in Iraq had been affected after the occupation" (Riverbend 65). The women discussed the increased regulations of women being forced to cover themselves up and the uprising number of rapes and abductions of Iraqi females. Al Jazeera is one of the most popular news channels in the Middle East, "Al Jazeera (offers) news coverage 24 hours a day from around the world and focusing on the hottest regions of conflict" (http://www.allied-media.com/aljazeera/). Many Iraqis and Middle Eastern countries get their news and information from the Al Jazeera network that offers around the clock news updates. Also, Al Jazeera covers other news topics like sports and entertainment, but the most watched shows are about politics and political debates. Al Jazeera is based out of Qatar and it started up in 1996 and it is now said that it has over 40 million viewers. Al Jazeera is not just popular among Middle Easterners, but it is, "the fastest growing network among Arab communities and Arabic speaking people around the world" (allied-media.com). Whether one lives in the United States or China, Al Jazeera is available all over the world and it is also translated into other languages such as English. Clearly Al Jazeera has a lot of influence all over the world and it keeps Arabs and all others that watch the channel posted on the latest news and world events.

Works Cited

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press, 2005.
“Al Jazeera.” Allied Media Corp. 2007.

"An Open Letter to Riverbend (HW 28)"

Dear Riverbend,

It is astounding to hear your story of being an Iraqi woman living near Baghdad during the United States invasion in 2003. It is hard to wrap my mind around such concepts you go through in everyday life. I am a young woman who has lived in the United States all of my life, and I have never come close to any of the situations you describe. Like you, I do not hate Americans or the American troops all of the time, and I don't support my country's actions that have been taken against Iraq. I have hated certain aspects of the War like you have, "I hated them (American troops) on April 28 when they shot and killed over a dozen kids and teenagers in Fallojeh...kids started throwing rocks at the troops, and the troops opened fire on the crowd" (Riverbend 14-15). I know that hate is a strong word, but when innocent children are ruthlessly murdered, the word hate is justified. It must be so physically and mentally draining to constantly be afraid of raids, bombs and looters. It is horrible to think that in today's world, people go day to day without knowing whether they might live or die. When you described a typical night in your home, it made me thankful for the way I am able to live, "We had been sleeping in our clothes for the last few nights with pockets stuffed with ID papers and money because we kept expecting the house to come crumbling down around us" (Riverbend 29). There was no time, even at night, when you could forget for a moment that your country was under attack. I now have a clearer picture of what it is like for an innocent person to live in a War, thanks to you Riverbend.

HW 27: Experiencing War in "Baghdad Burning"

The book "Baghdad Burning" is written by Riverbend. The First Feminist Press at the City of University of New York in New York published it in 2005. "Baghdad Burning" takes place in Baghdad, Iraq during the invasion of the United States in 2003. The author and main character of the book, Riverbend, lives in Baghdad during the time of the invasion, and she is submerged in the chaos of the war. Riverbend is a young 20ish year old Iraqi citizen that lives with her parents and her brother. Beginning in August 2003, Riverbend begins writing on her blog online to show the rest of the world how it really is for an Iraqi to live amidst the United States invasion of her country that later becomes an occupation. By reading this book, you will learn of a first hand account of with it is like to be an innocent person in a war. Riverbend explains how difficult everyday living is from not knowing when the electricity will come on to hearing bombs that are destroying her city and killing innocent men, women and children. The benefits of reading this book are that stereotypes of Iraqi's will diminish and we will learn that we are no different than the average Iraqi person. We feel pain, happiness and loss in the same way regardless of what part of the world we live in. There are disturbing and unsettling images and situations that Riverbend describes with detail in her blog posts. This creates the challenge of having to read something that is hard or painful to hear but at the same time it is necessary to be able to grasp the concepts that Riverbend is trying to explain to us. Although Riverbend may say things that we do not like or that we disagree with, it is important to keep an open mind while reading so you are able to get the full experience of "Baghdad Burning."

HW 25: The Iraqi People and Senseless Wars

A girl called Riverbend who is placed in the middle of the Iraq War in Baghdad writes “Baghdad Burning”. Riverbend started writing online on her blog when the United States invaded Iraq and she tells the true events that occurred to everyday innocent Iraqi men, women, and children. Back during the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the United States, I will admit that I knew very little about Iraq and its people. I have come to learn that Iraqi people are not all that different from people like me from the United States and as Ahdaf Soueif describes this about "Baghdad Burning,” This book should shame all those with lingering imperialist bent of mind who see Iraqis (or Arabs, Muslims, or 'third-worldeans') as somehow lesser or, at best, developing" (Soueif ix). The Iraqi people and all people of the world should be viewed as equals regardless of how powerful or poor a country is. Soueif's forward for Riverbend's book is precise and to the point and he directly tells readers exactly how to interpret it, "Baghdad Burning makes for painful reading. It also makes for enjoyable-even fun-reading. It is certainly necessary reading" (Soueif ix). This novel is important for learning about Iraq and its people and it will also spark emotions within the readers. While Soueif informs us more on Riverbend herself, James Ridgeway focuses on Iraqi people as a whole and the daunting history of Iraq. Ridgeway goes into detail about the struggle Iraq has had for decades over its oil and how it has caused the of death of so many innocents lives throughout Iraq for decades. Children have suffered greatly because of the chaos of war, "About 100 children a day (died) due to the Gulf War and the subsequent sanctions...(these) figures do not include the second, or 2003, war" (Ridgeway xv). This is a disturbing revelation and I had no idea that the number of children deaths was so staggering. Ridgeway really puts into prospective the amount of pain Iraqi's have been through in the past and that they have been pushed even further back because of the 2003 war. Thousands of schools have to be rebuilt, electricity is unreliable, and sanitation conditions are despicable and this is all due from the U.S. war on Iraq. I believe the saddest part of all is the death of loved ones for an unnecessary war.