Jackie Robinson, Overcoming the Odds

The year was 1947 and The American Baseball League was yet to have an African American player in its midst, but that was all about to change with the coming of Jackie Robinson. For today's blog post I found an article on The famous baseball player Jackie Robinson, the first African American ball player ever. Here is a link to the website, http://www.africanamericans.com/JackieRobinson.htm this lovely website provided me with tons and tons of uber knowledgeable facts on Jackie, and I have come to the conclusion that he is the man. Jackie played in the majors until 1956 and was loved if not initially but overtime by all of his teammates. It was than later on his life in the year 1962 that Jackie than became the first nominated black man to the Baseball hall of fame, what an accomplishment! It was than later on in 1984 that he became the second player after Roberto Clemente to ever recieve the Congressional Gold Medal, which is considered one of the most prestigious medals in baseball. After all of his baseball stuff Jackie became a prominent figure in politics and helping his community.

love

The text I chose to examine today is Charlotte's Web. This is a novel of the most epic proportions, and is considered one of the great literary masterpieces of our time along with The Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird. The theme of love is entwined throughout the entire story of Charlotte's Web. From the very beginning when Wilbert is saved by the girl from being killed. The girl acted out of love for Wilbert even though he was the weak runt of his mother's liter. Later on during the final parts of the book when the spider Charlotte, who has acted and served as a loving mother to all those in need on the farm, has her babies she grows ill. It eventually becomes evident that Charlotte is going to die. WIlbert and all the other farm animals in the barn are completely distraught over the fact that they are going to loose Charlotte due to how much they all love her so badly. Upon seeing this even when she is dieing Charlotte summons the strength and energy to tell all the barn animals and Wilbert one last time how very important they all are to her and how she will always love them very much. While this story may be meant for kids it teaches a lesson in love that is so profound and impactful that it makes this novel a must read for every person on the face of the earth. For more information on the story visit here http://www.pocanticohills.org/charlotte/index.htm this website is a fan created site set up as a tribute and center of all things related to the Web.

Greek Empires: Colonies galore

The greeks were the first to colonize different parts of the world. The first times the greeks began to set up colonies was during the tenth century B.C. The greek colonies would end up being spread far and wide from the southern coast of france to parts of Asia Minor and Africa. Greece was a country surrounded by water so naturally it's people were born seafarers. I thought i would specifically talk about one greek colony that became very powerful, Syracuse. Since its establishment Syracuse was one of the most powerful greek cities in existence up until its fall to Rome. Syracuse was constantly being threatened by the great Carthaginian empire. Since its establishment Syracuse has constantly been under assault by The African-Spanish empire. Due to its marvelous position on the island of Sicily Syracuse was able to bring in boats full of money from trade. This enabled the Syracusans to support their military conflicts against Syracuse. When Rome came to dominate Latinium they too had interests in the island of Sicily. This sealed Syracuses's fate. Eventually they were overthrown by the Roman empire. I used an article from the Met's website and here is the link http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/angk/hd_angk.htm and the siting is followed.... Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. "Ancient Greek Colonization and Trade and their Influence on Greek Art". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/angk/hd_angk.htm (July 2007)

'Slumdog Millionaire' star's father asks for more

"Azharuddin was paid 700 pounds during filming, while another 17,500 pounds has been put into a trust fund which he will get, plus interest, when he is 18. " This quote comes from an article posted on BollyWood's website, www.bollywood.com which discusses the payment of the star of the recent film Slumdog Millionare which blew up in the box office. The article talks about how the main actor ,Mohammed Azharuddin, was given a paycheck that hardly suffices for the work he did. His father has been trying to get the director of the movie to recognize what is owed to his son, and have him paid properly. Azharuddin's father who gather's wood for a living and is suffering from TB and lives in the slums said that the house that was promised to his family for his son's work has yet to be given to them, and he says that his son should get more of the money from the movie. This is a common occurance in the film industry, a random no one is used in a role and given next to nothing for payment and than that movie makes millions and that actor comes back to collect some of that cash that they so rightfully believe is theirs. "They promised me a new house but it hasn't happened. I'm still in the slum. " This is a quote of what Azharuddin's father told the press. I am compelled to agree with Azharuddin's father. His son was a critical part in making Slumdog and now that the movie is so huge part of that cash should be going to Azharuddin.

Eskimo life

For my blog post today I found a diddy on Eskimo Culture. The article I found can be viewed right here on the website Fact Monster http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/society/A0858029.html . Eskimo's are like many other hunting and gathering cultures. What makes Eskimo society stand out from others is that they were known for their especially skilled artists and fine craftsmans. Due to the sparseness of the lands they live on Eskimos live in small bands with a leader selected who is recognized for his ability to provide and protect the rest. The idea of personal property is viewed much differently than most cultures, Eskimo's will share most things besides for the most personal, private property. Just like most cultures though the Eskimo men will build the homes and provide food, while the women will stay home to watch the family. Their religion is rich with mythology, and shamanism is practiced. Shamans are like priests, but they commune with the earth, like many other pagan priests shaman's will use drugs to induce visions. Now a day's almost all Eskimo's live in communities. Instead of the spear the gun is used to hunt, and many communities will even have snowmobile's. Hopefully one day the Eskimo god Khuralu will descend from the moon to lead his tribes down from the tundra's to feed like ravenous dog's on the white man, and we will all see a great world ruled by the Eskimo

The warrior children

In the time of the Hegemon's and when diplomacy was decided by the end of a pike there was a city that had such well trained warriors that it was able to spread its influence far and wide, this city was Sparta. Sparta is home to the famed Spartan warrior, known for his ferociousness and discipline in battle. The story of the 300 spartan's, although fiction, has forever solidified the power of the spartan warrior in modern day culture. The reason for the greatness of Sparta's military is the Spartan Agoge system.
Right from birth a spartan boy is taken to the old scarred veterans who judge if the boy is good enough to be a spartan warrior. If any signs of weakness or birth defects are noticed the baby will be taken to a near cliff where he is cast away. When the child reaches the age of seven he is taken from his mother and placed in a communual barracks with other young spartan boys. From this point on the child will go through intense training every day until the age of tweleve. At this point in the boy's training he is cast into the outside world with only a mere rag for clothing. They are forced to live off the land and be exposed to the wild beasts. After one year has passed the boy's are now men. For the next seven years they will participate in live war games against local non spartan's. These games were very dangerous and left dead. Once the spartan was twenty he would then continue to live in the barrack's as a part of the standing army. This went on for ten years, then at this point the warrior would be allowed to marry and take their own home and if choose a public office. I found this article on a site called Suite101 and the article was called Agoge- Spartan Military Training. Link provided http://ancient-military-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/agoge_spartan_military_training

The 1931 Chinese Floods

Today I read an article on wikipedia that discussed the events that occurred during the 1931 floods in China. The series of floods that happened in China in 1931 are considered the most deadly natural disasters to occur in the 20th century. The casualties were estimated as low as 400,000 all the way up to 4 million deaths. Before the time of the floods a long draught occurred in China lasting from 1928 to the end of 1930. The extensive draught was what led to the mass floods across the main part of the asian continent. In a time period like the early twentieth century, especially in a country like China that was still developing