HW: 42

Hello, this is Kelly, and we are the Beta Pod from Keene State College ITW 101. We are using Baghdad Burning as a reference for this podcast.Hi, this is Sarah. The passage that left the biggest impression on us from this weeks reading was found on page 262. Riverbend basically says that Bush gives repulsive speeches and is sheepish-however he makes an attempt to sound sincere. The people of Iraq are not big fans of President Bush.Hi, this is
Lori. Student next semester can expect to learn first hand what it was like living in Iraq during the war.
Hey, this is Hayley. The students can also learn from the book that what is shown on Television is not half as bad as it really is.
Hi, this is Emily. Thank you for listening to us, have an enjoyable evening! Peace out.

HW 36: Beta Pods podcast 1

http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=8538&cast=49707&castPage=&autoplay=true

HW 35: Dear Readers

During the past 13 weeks in my ITW A Blog Of One's Own I had to keep a blog to reflect upon the different types of reading we did and how they each made an impact on my everyday lives. I honestly had no idea what a blog really was and what else I could use it for besides keeping a journal to fill my friends in with what i have been doing in my life and whats interesting to me. If someone outside this class were to read my blog I feel they would just gain knowledge about the different books I read and how I felt about them and the different interruptions i got out of the books. After this call I don't think i will use my blog again and I don't feel that it will come in use again. Although I wont even use my blog again this class did open my eyes and make me see that blogs could also be used for other things such as communication and seeing what the best product is.

HW 34: Respond to Riverbend

Gold plays a big role in Iraq with their families and it shows how much a family has saved up and has right now as status concern. People pulled their money out of banks before the war, and bought gold instead (Riverbend, 100). When there is a rumor going around that a house will be invaded women often hide all their gold and valuables so it is not taken. Riverbend also stated that "Gold can be shown off and worn, but in times of economical trouble, a few pieces can be sold to tide the family over. Tea is also important and valuable in an Iraqi's life. The tea they drink isn't like in the US from a teabag, and if you serve them a teabag you risk scorn and disdain. It is an important time durning the day for them all to sit down together and catch up. "In the evening, most Iraqi families gather together for "evening tea. Its hardly as formal as it sounds...No matter how busy the day, everyone sits around in the living room, waiting for tea" (Riverbend 108). The time they spend together drinking tea is like a way for them to escape from the war and be in their own little world with the people they love just for a little while where there is no harm to them.

HW 33: Iraqi Teens work to help their families

The podcast i chose to watch was, "Iraqi Teens Work To Help Their Families," which the main issue was that in Iraq most teens are having to take time out of their schedule to learn and get an education so they can work for their families. In the podcast children are also stating their direct experiences with having to work with their families. Some such jobs they had were helping their uncle around the house or even having their fathers with carpentry or painting chairs. One child on the podcast was attending college and he was born with a birth defect although his habitat has led him sitting on the computer all day. This video made me open my eyes to also see what it is like to work all day instead of going to school and getting an education. With terrorism in the world i believe that the kids would be able to go to school where they should be every day rather then working to raise money for their families.

HW 32: Shopping For School Supplies

On Saturday October 1st Riverbend went out with her cousion, his wife and her brother to go school shopping for his two daughters. Since the conditions in Iraq were so drastic and the war started her kids werent able to set outside the house unless it was to visit a relative. In Iraq there arent huge shopping plaza's or malls so they has to travel to the middle of Baghdad to find a shopping area. They went to a stationary shop that sold everything from toys to desk sets. Riverbend and S. had to search all over the store for just the right designed notebooks for the kids. When the children go to school they now have to ba guarded by other kids fathers and bring their own chairs to sit in durning the school day. I feel so bad to be put in that situation and dont know how the children are able to preform in those conditions.

HW 31: Responding to Riverbend

After reading August 31-September 16 one thing that caught my eye and made me want to do more research on and find out what it was really about was SCIRI (Riverbend, page 43) I never heard of this term and it attracted me to find out what it was really all about. When i typed SCIRI in on wikipedia.com the results of the definition was Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

(http://209.85.165.104/searchq=cache:LXx3WB05rIgJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciri+sciri&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us) The SCIRI is one of Iraq's largest political parties. In May 2007 the name of the political party has been changed to Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council; they removed the word "Revolution" from it because " they thought it was seen as a reference to overthrowing the secular Ba'athist government. The political party was found in 1982 after the Iran-Iraq war. The political party finally joined the United Iraqi Alliance list for the general election on January 30, 2005.