War article summary

This is a very interesting article that I found online talking about the war against ISIS. As everyone knows, many countries are trying their best to solve the issues in Iraq and stop ISIS from getting new recruits. What I like about this article is that it is talking about the negative objective that U.S is hiding instead of saying that they are doing a great job at fighting ISIS. "While the US seems to be engaged in a psychological war against ISIS, it is equally involved in a systematic campaign of sabotage against those forces that are actually fighting ISIS on the ground."It claims that the U.S is secretly trying to get rid of the ally forces so that once the war is over, they can easily gain control over them. The article also explains the whole psychological aspect of war instead of the fighting aspect. It explains that our propaganda posters that are meant to stop new ISIS recruits are poorly designed and are actually angering them more, this is causing them to come at us with more vengeance and power. 
Article link- http://rt.com/op-edge/245613-us-war-terror-isis-aid/

Slam Poetry

               

                                                                      Religion 

                                              

                           When you make fun of someone because of their religion and race

                                                      you are just a waste of space.

                           Making someone feel bad because they are not the same color as you

                                                            that's just a disgrace.

                    I don't know how you live with yourself after making other people's life like a living hell

                           you probably don't sleep at night cause your nightmares make you go in a shell.
                                    If this poem helped you change your thinking then that's good
                                because we need less ignorant people in this world.


              Anhad Suri

                                   

"The Sniper" story summary

Summary Of The Story The Sniper- This short story takes place during the nighttime in the city of Dublin. There is an ongoing war between the Republicans and Free Staters. On the rooftop near O' Connell bridge, a Republican sniper is excited to kill his target once he spots them. He carries a flak of whiskey and a cigarette with him in his pockets. As soon as he takes a smoke, a bullet whizzes by him - his opponent is here. Suddenly, a car came out on top of the bridge. An old women approaches the car and tells the man who was inside about the snipers location. Immediately, the sniper shoots the man and women, killing them both. The car then speeds away. The sniper was so focused on those two that he forgot about the enemy sniper. As soon as he killed the two targets, the enemy sniper shot at him and the bullet hit his arm. Although the sniper is able to recover by dripping his bottle of whiskey onto the wound, he is still in great pain. Not being able to use his rifle after being shot, he decides that he has to win using the revolver that he carries in his other pocket. The clever sniper then comes up with a plan to trick to enemy into thinking that he was dead. By using his hat as a decoy and dropping his rifle to the ground, his plan works and the enemy thinks that they have been successful and lowers their guard. Using this to his advantage, the sniper shoots and kills the enemy with one shot from the revolver. The sensation of killing fills the sniper up with guilt for killing and hatred for the war and himself. As he throws the revolver out of disgust, it fires and the bullet goes by the snipers head, this brings him back to his senses. Before leaving, he is curious to see who he killed thinking that he might have known them. He turns over the dead body of the enemy and sees his brother.             

Should Children be forced to join war ?

Connections - There are many connections that can be made between the Ishmael Bael video and the article. First of all, in the video, Ishmael Bael states that the military forced him to take part in the war and kill people. This is similar to the method of brutalization mentioned in the article. He was trained in a total immersion environment and was taught to embrace violence and discipline and accept it as a normal  survival skill. Secondly, the army used the technique "classical conditioning" on him. According to the article, the Japanese military  taught young soldiers to kill innocent people by offering rewards such as food or girls. As they would be doing this, their friends would encourage them by cheering. This is very similar to the case of Ishmael Bael because he was also taught to kill innocent people in front of his friends as they cheered him on. The last connection that can be made is the "role model" technique. The article mentions that "in the military your role model is your drill sergeant. He personifies violence, aggression, and discipline." In the video, Ishmael Bael states that because he was with the army for a long time, his superiors became family figures to him. He also wanted to go back to them when he was sent to the rehab center because he looked up to them so much.

Challenges - The article states that " media violence being presented as “entertainment” for children." it also states that the media is having a negative impact on children because it is teaching them to associate death and suffering with pleasure. I disagree with both of the statements because although the media can have a negative impact on children, it also depends on the environment that they were raised in. For example, if a child is raised in a caring and loving environment, they are likely to become that way even if the media showcases violence and suffering. On the other hand, if a child is raised in a suffering environment like a war zone, then they are more likely to become violent like Ishmael Bael. 

Concepts - The main concept of the article is that war has a negative impact on all of the children who participate in it. They are influenced negatively in ways like brutalization and classical conditioning, taught to kill innocent civilians for pleasure and food, and they are forced to commit murders against their own in order to survive. It states that war and killing is a "toxic and addictive substance."

Minimum 12 people die in Charlie Hebdo magazine shooting

 This article is about the recent shooting at the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo Weekly magazine. The article states that minimum 12 people were killed at the shooting including 2 police officers and 8 journalists. Police suspect Said that Cherif Kouachi and Hamyd Mourad who are brothers might be behind this attack. According to the article, many people in France gathered on the streets on Wednesday, January the 15^th  holding up signs reading "Je Suis Charlie" - I Am Charlie -as a show of respect toward those slain and defiance toward the attackers. Similar gatherings also happened in Germany, Great Britain, and USA. Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said that, "at least two” gunmen entered the offices of the magazine at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Paris time. He also reports that the men first shot and killed a police officer stationed at the magazine, then walked up to the second floor newsroom and opened fire. 4 of the magazine's founding cartoonists were killed in the attack and 11 other people were injured. The end of the article states that French President Francois Hollande said that, “Charlie Hebdo represented a message of freedom.” 

     I believe that this article is very important and that everyone should be aware of this issue. The shooting has affected many people including the victims families, friends, and just the overall population of France. Many people are now scared of going outside as there are still threats to the Country. I can connect this incident to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it goes against the Fundamental Freedoms of thought, the press, and expression. According to the Charter, everyone has the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication. The magazine did nothing wrong because it was not inflicting harm to any race or ethnic group. It is very important for people to be aware of this issue because it can also affect us. The deaths in France prove that terrorism groups are not afraid to inflict harm and that they will fight for what they think is right. This can impact everyone in Canada as well as the whole world. For example, just recently, a Charlie Hebdo related attack was intercepted and stopped by the police in Belgium.