Dear Mr....

Dear Mr.Thomas Freyer

                     I know there has been great fuss lately about the whole issue on wiki leaks. Not only here in the United States but also all around the world. People have mixed opinions about the topic, and while there is many people who are against it, there is also many others that are for it. In my case i think i am neutral about the whole situation.

I have done some research about the whole topic and while there is things that i agree with, there is also things that i disagree with. I am not for the whole thing of actually going in so deep to find such documents. If governments have them hidden from their people then i guess it should be respected. There must be a reason why they do so. And for the people who help find and leak such documents, those who work for wiki leaks, i think that's their job and i mean i don't really see what they get from it, except angry people, and off course a really big check. I mean that's their job, and while many people might not see it as a good job because of it being somewhat “illegal we can say, it is what keeps the food on their table.

    Very controversial? yes it is. It by far is one of the most talked about topics this year, specially now at the end of it. Many people , like me, never knew of such crisis. It wasn't until a day in my history class that my teacher introduced me to it. I remember him showing us a video of soldiers at “war” who killed innocent people from the airplane in which they were at duty that day. That was so shocking to me and the things they said only made me even more angrier. Such things i believe are worth of being leaked. Aren't we supposed to be over there to help? well how come they don't tell us the truth and show us what really happens? Well for that case we have wiki leaks and that is the point at which i am in agreement with.
    Something that has always had me intrigued is, what made Julian have this idea? Because when you come to see the technical side of things, this guy is pretty darn smart! And he must have very smart people working for him. I have heard of people get in trouble for helping him or working hand in hand with him, but i think that they were proud of what they did!
    Wiki leaks by far has stormed out of the dark and it is becoming more of a controversies with the passing of the days.  People all have different points of views and well you just read mine. But that is just my opinion and what i think of the whole situation, i am sure you have your own sayings about the situation itself and i would love to hear maybe someday. thank you so much for your time and may you have a wonderful day.

                            Sincerely,
                            Valenitna Piedrahita

Sources: http://cdn.venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/wikileaks.jpg http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/wikileaks-founders-statement-from-prison/

IED's

A. My best bet would be to try and torture them with ways that will eventually make them speak up. Threaten their families and tell them that both their lifs and their families at are risk and that they better speak up or they will forsure die!

B. Well if you mistreat them too much then they migth die and you wont get your objective.  But you have to tortutre them enough so that they can give up the information that they have.

Wordles!

Tone of the US declaration of war : 

                                   Athoritative. Impreialistic. Ready.
     Controling. Mad. Grand. Hurried. In charge
                have to do so .Ready.Poweristic.All that
              Controlive. Bigger. Better. Unsubmissive

German response to the US:

                                         Peaceful. unity. Lawful. Tranquil.
                  Joinfull. Friendly. Realistic. Handy.
                                                                 Developmental. looking forward.
                                                    Positive                                         

Bam Bam!

Video games play a big part in our society. Many teens and kids of all ages relate to them in many ways. Most of their days are spent either at school or at home playing such games. But are some video games good for kids and teens? Like for example war games? Well there is big controversy about them and weather they should be allowed or not. Or if they produce more violence or aggressive behavior. Well I believe that they should be allowed to exist to a certain extent. Lets see a list of argumentative for its and not according to some people :

For it

1. well if they are doing it through video games, it is what it is. It isn’t the real thing so why not let them do it?
2. Its just a game!
3. If this is the only way they have fun then let them do it!
4. They aren’t harming anybody!

Against it

1. Off course it brings out a violent side!
2. Such games shouldn’t be allowed, they can give kids ideas and might even lead them to such behavior in the future.
3. Is this really what we want our kids to be playing?
4. There is better ways for our teens and kids to pass time than be playing such wasteful and tasteless games.
5. Not good!

As we can see there are many people who have different opinions about these video games.

In my opinion games such as call of duty should be allowed but higher standards should be set for them. Like they shouldn’t be so violent and companies should have to follow some certain kind of rules to the making of these video games. I really don’t think that they necessarily bring out the violent side out of older kids. Same reason why I think that younger kids shouldn’t be playing these kinds of games. They obviously don’t show all the complete violence there is at violent wars and there should be a message in the games that talks about this. Many times kids and teens just view these games in an innocent way. They are just interested in playing them and winning them to be able to get to higher levels and get the thrill out of them. And well if this is what makes them happy, then why not? It is not likely that a teen playing this will turn out to be a serious killer or something like it. When it comes to the point we have to see that it is just a video game and that it will never be able to be compared to the real thing. Now parents might not feel the same way. Specially considering the high price of these video games.

Once again in my opinion I think that these games are OK to some extent. If they continue to get wilder and crazier and more expensive than what they already are, then I think I might then have a problem with them. But for now it is what our society uses to have fun so why not just cut it some slack and give people the right to have some fun with them, as long as they keep it safe!

sources:

http://newbreview.com/2010/11/09/retro-fix-call-of-duty-2/

Ahhhh!

Inside the brain of a pilot during an ai to air combat fight :

• Ahhh i need to get him!
• i cant crash i cant crash!!
• if i turn this way i might get hit!
• what if i die??
• im doing this for my country!!
• I LOVEE flying planes!
• Yeahhh man!!
• take that man!!
• Oh no oh no i need to turn fast!
• Everything is under control!
• Ehaaaa!!

                    

Dear Molly,

Dear Molly,

Oh how i wish i could be with you right now, to be able to spend all the holidays together. It is so hard for me to be so far away from you at the moment. To not be able to hug you, kiss you and tell you all that i want to say. It is so frustrating to know that the only way i can communicate with you is by letters that take so long to arrive. Only if we were closer i would maybe even try smoke signals which might as well get to you faster. If letters would get to you in just a matter of seconds i would write you one every second of the day. If letters would come and go any faster we would be able to have great conversations just as if we were closer to each other. I think that i might start trying to figure out a way so that soldiers could communicate with heir loved ones faster than just letters that take so long. I promise i will do that effort for you. Now i must go back to work my dear molly, i love you oh so much.

lovingly,
Matti.

Matti Makkonen left war and then was the one to invent text messaging! (tis is not true !!, this is a fictional letter and story!)

Tweet Tweet .

On the days leading from Jan 14 to Jan 17 the queen of Hawaii had to give her throne away. broken hearted this is what her tweets would have been like :

Princess Ka'iulani <3
At the legislative session's closing ceremony. Trying to stay concentrated, but OMG i am so hungry!!
01/14/1892 10:05 AM

Princess Ka'iulani <3
New constitution= party timee! Oh and BTW this band playing at this event is amazingg :)
01/14/1892 1:30 PM

Princess Ka'iulani <3
Giving speeches is my favorite thing to do <3 But oh oh looks like i might have some enemies in the crowd :o
01/14/1892 2:45 PM

Princess Ka'iulani <3
I woke up to crises on the harbor! writing proclamation to try and fix things ASAP! Ughh sometimes i hate having to be in charge :/
01/15/1892 9:00 AM

Princess Ka'iulani <3
Ahh i feel so loved. So many people are gathered here at the place square to show their support. Thank you to all my natives, you guys are the reason why i stay strong <3
01/16/1892 12:00 PM

Princess Ka'iulani <3
Oh oh this isnt looking very pretty :o Troops have begun to arrive and are scaring eveyone and even me :/ what do they want ?
01/16/1892 5:00 PM

Princess Ka'iulani <3
I knew this day would come, im yielding my power. Im really sorry to all my people and troops. i feel as if i have betrayed you but know that i havent and that i love you very much.
01/17/1892 4:00 PM

Dear Jounal :

December 15 1984,
               

                      I must admit that today has been one of the hardest days at work. I miss my family so much and i wish i were able to go back home for he holidays. I really hate it here and everything about it, but i understand this is what i have to do for my family. It is so different here and i face so many dangers. Everyday i have to fear for my life and what might and can happen to me. Before i go to bed i pray God to keep me alive so that i can be able to go back home to my two beautiful baby daugheters. Everyday i try to get away from these weird mosquitoes that carry disceases such as malaria that can be transmitted to me through one sting and i could die. Theres also so many violence arround. i wish we could all just live in peace and work as a team to finish thia job as soon as possible, but i have sadly come to the conclusion that it is neatrly impossible. Once again i hope that i could live and that i am able to keep writting ky daily journal entries, for i have faith and know that God will listen to my pleads and thi picture of my daughters remind me why im here and what my objective is.    

                                                                                                            ,Goodnight dear journal.

sources : http://worldstogethertravel.com/jamaica/zion-community.html

Lights, Camera, Imperialism!

    The dark night, by far one of my favorite “superhero” movies, has also been a favorite of the general public. The dark night has many themes to it and imperialism can somehow be tied into it. Throughout the movie we experience a fight between evil and bad. The joker somehow overpowers the whole town of Gotham city. His acts all depend on weather the people do what he wants when he wants it. Its rather easy, give him what he wants and he wont do any harm, or at least in most of the cases that's how it goes. He pretty much has the town tied around his finger, and this is where batman comes in to try to stop his wrongdoings. the joker pretty much has control of Gotham as a whole.
    The citizens of Gotham city are all scared of the joker and what he can do to them and their families if his needs, or what he wants and demands, are not met. In imperialism one dominant nation has control of a number of countries. In this case we can classify the joker as the dominant nation and the residents of Gotham as the smaller countries. He pretty much has control of everything. Their economical status, because if the more damage he causes ,if he doesn't get what he wants, then the more money the city has to waist in fixing his all his wrong acts. The character of the joker also has political power in some way. In this movie politics play a big part. As we see one of the main characters Harvey dent trying to run for a higher position and batman himself fighting against the criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The joker then sets out to make both of these men loose their minds and try to turn them around by overpowering them. so the political standing of these two men are then put at jeopardy by the acts of the bad guy.
    the joker not only hold imperial power of the city of Gotham but also of the men and women who live and work in and for the city itself. He decides to make master plans to create chaos and accomplishes his goals of turning one good man into a bad man. His imperialist ideas make him a creator of chaos and an unstoppable villain who tries to make the most out of his own power.



In this picture we see the character of the joker walking around the city of Gotham. In his hands he holds a card of a joker which represents his character and in his other hand he holds a knife with which he does all his wrong acts. we can see that he appears to be bigger than all the things surrounding him. this shows that he has the power and that no one, not even Batman, can seem to bring him down. This movie is imperialistic because the joker holds power of the whole city of Gotham and the residents and civilians of it.


sources: http://encefalus.com/general/dark-knight-psychology/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/plotsummary



EXTRA EXTRA: TOP STORY OF THE WEEK!! MUST READ MUST READ!!

Yellow journalism was pretty much what was used to sell more newspapers. The more catchy the picture and/or the headline was, the more newspapers that would be sold. They used exaggeration and sensationalism to make them more interesting.

As we see this picture here is a headline from September 11. As we can read right there in the front there is the word APOCALYPSE in big, capitalized, bold letters. Was it really necessary to put this picture? this headline? Isn't it a little exaggerated? Apocalypse is what many people believe to be the end of the world but, as we clearly now know, it wasn't. This was just a technique used so that people would clearly see this headline and picture and ant to know more about it so they buy the paper.

Sources: http://saintnicksbytes.blogspot.com/2010/08/yellow-journalism-makes-me-ill.html

http://boingboing.net/2009/01/13/uk-newspaper-headlin.html

CLOSE THE SOA!

 The School of the Americas has in fact been a very controversial topic for the past couple of years. I believe that the US should not be able to this organization which trains people to follow the practice of coup d'etat. This organization has had graduates that have done horrible things to innocent civilians. As i read through the website of the SOA watch, an independent organization that seeks to close the SOA, i stumbled upon many cases of terrible acts done by graduates of this school. My heart sunk deeper when i saw that one of the countries in which they have done a lot of damage is my native country, Colombia. These people have been responsible for the lives of so many Colombians that were innocent and probably lived a happy life. It is inhumane to teach people to abuse the human rights of other countries, specially Latin American countries where most of the graduates are actually from. So i ask myself, should this be allowed? definitely not! The SOA should be closed so that human rights can be practiced and the lives of many innocent people aren't at stake anymore.

Sources : http://www.soaw.org/

Blogging !

             

This quarter my favorite class has been US history honors with my wonderful teacher Mr.Meechin. One oft he most fun aspects of the class so far has been our weekly assignments that were done through blogging. I really like this way of homework doing and i definitely agree with it. I believe that this system of homework doing and learning is very beneficiary in many ways both for the students and the instructor.

Students are the ones who enjoy this the most. For most of the students in our class this is a new method of doing homework and to many people, like me, it is very enjoyable and reasonable. Through blogging i believe that my learning has increased a whole lot. It makes me want to do my work every week while i am trying something new at the same time, in this case that would be blogging. Blogging gives students a chance to express how they feel about the topic assigned and create a voice for themselves in this international audience. Something that i find fascinating is that we are writing these topic blogs and they are out there for the whole world to see, and we really cant imagine who might read them!

Our topics are always fun and they are fairly easy. I like them because there isn't really a right or wrong answer, it is just your opinion expressed to everyone out there. I think that it is nothing challenging since we aren't writing an essay so there really isn't any reason for it to get boring but instead get more interesting as you progress and start getting a hang of it. Another thing is we are teenagers living in 2010 so off course we are all so technologically advanced so for this type of assignment to be given to us results as something fun and rather interesting. Blogging has also become one of the most used methods of Internet communication for greater audiences out there and for us students to be able to start a blog of our own and really make it personal and have it out there is a great achievement and development that can lead to many new things!

Now for instructors such as mine who assign such homework it has advantages too. First of all they already mark the difference by assigning things that they now aren't going to be boring for their students and therefor will be more interested and actually do their work and learn from it. Also i believe it must be really fun to be able to read all these different ideas and responses that come from the students. Its definitely not boring for them because once again there is no wrong or right answer so it must be interesting to see how people think differently and respond to different ideas in such a mixed manner.

So i absolutely 100 percent agree with the use of the blogging assessment system in our class. It is something new that i had  never seen before and i definitely like it, a lot! It makes me want to do my work and really enjoy it. Writing my opinions and putting them out there for my instructor and really the whole world to me gives me a feeling of happiness inside because it is something new and way out of the ordinary. I am for sure looking forward to the rest of the year and the many more blogging assessments we are going to get with the many different topics we still have to come!

Does it make a difference?

Was my learning different when blogging, as compared to writing just in pen and paper? Yes! it definitely was. It made me want to do my posts every week and look forward to doing so. This is definitely something new and the topics related to what we talked about every week. So i was learning and at the same time having fun doing my homework. I think that blogging making it funner absolutely made more things stay in my head and made me think more. Whereas when i am assigned other assignments in other classes it was like a repetitive thing and that got really boring and not as interesting to make me learn!

my favorite :)

I have really enjoyed all my blogs this quarter. But my definite favorite has been the Oregon trail one! I had lots of fun when preparing to write this blog. We had to play the actual game which was very fun since i had never played it before. Playing the game was very interesting and i actually learned from it. I think that having such fun assignments makes students want to participate and o all their work!

The American Dream

   Immigrants coming into Ellis Island must have a had been feeling a roller coaster of emotions! First of all i can imagine they had a really bad mix up of feelings. Sad because they were leaving their homes but happy because they were coming to a new world where they had opportunities. They must have felt weird and scared as well because of all the test they were being submitted to and because they really had no idea what was waiting for them. My family being first generation Americans themselves i know from stories that they felt very optimistic themselves about the new live that was waiting for them here. So i can definitely imagine and relate to the different feelings and experiences that these immigrants coming to the United States through Ellis island.

Music soothes the soul!

   A song such as "The song of the shirt" by Thomas Hood is definitely not a song that i would choose as my main choice. As i was reading the lyrics of the song i pictured everything in my head as it was being told, and woah is that not a pretty picture. Life for the textile factory workers during this time must have been something close to "hell". The song practically talks about what work was like. From what is said i infer that it must have been pretty heavy work and that they were abused to the edge. They had no other choice but to work this hard and practically be overly abused. They must have lived very hard and harsh lives which maybe ended because of their exhaustion. And to think that there is still many places overseas that still have this same treatment and working for conditions for workers. Would you like to be in that position? i know i wouldn't!

"A cowboy is a man with guts and a horse"

"Ehhaaa! "  When we think of cowboys we think of a guy in a horse, with a lasso, a big funny hat, up on a horse, and maybe smoking tobacco. But is this really what cowboys were all about? Actually, no. That's only what we think they were because that's how they are portrayed on TV and in Hollywood. Big shot guys who have power and live in southern towns with big horses and big guns! But cowboys weren't about this at all. They were normal hard working people who     had it hard just like anybody else.

Cowboys were all about their own culture. They worked within their own towns, helped each other and dressed to suit their work. Their clothing was made so that it was practical for them and functional for while they worked. The basic wardrobe of the men in the cowboy culture were long sleeved cotton or wool shirts and simple work pants. Sometimes they also wore vests that had pockets so that they could carry small items, since neither their pants or shirts had small pockets or any pockets at all. Hats and kerchiefs, which are what we always link to cowboys, were crucial in their attire since they had many uses. To protect their feet the cowboys used high lathered boots. Cowboys also had tools to work. But  their most important piece of equipment was off course their horse. They were practically a cowboys best friend. They were used to travel long distances and most important to herd all day.

A cowboys job was to herd, or manage cattle all day. At the beginning of each day the cowboys were given their daily work every morning by the range boss. The range boss was like a manger to their work. He was the one who managed all the cowboys and made sure that everything was getting done how it was supposed to be done. There were four seasonal phases to a cowboys year. In each phase the had different tasks that suited whichever season it was. These four phases were: the spring roundup, the tail drive, the fall roundup, and winter work. This basically became a cycle for cowboys as they grew up. The most work was done during the spring and fall roundups.

Since cowboys worked so hard throughout the year they also gave themselves to relax and have fun in their own way. At the end of each of their hard working days they would all meet up and enjoyed activities such as playing games and cards and singing and dancing around bonfires as well, but the thing that was most enjoyed by them was the telling and listening of stories. Other forms of recreation throughout the years included rodeos, which their horses were involved in and the wild west shows. These were part of their culture and mean a whole lot to them.

Cowboys lived in cottage-like houses with lots of land around, these were called ranches. They were often big and grand-like and decorated with stones and many colors all around. The ranches were big enough to held their herd and to nourish and train their horses as well. Most of the times ranches were big and opened space. they had one or two random trees here and there, which aided them as shade when they were out working.

So as you can see cowboys were not at all what Hollywood portrays them as. They were hard working people who had big families and responsibilities as priorities. They did not just go around in their horses with big guns and lassos being heroes all the time. They had priorities and were ordinary people just like we are today. So next time you think about cowboys remember that they were people just like us and that they shouldn't be taken for granted.

lets get playing and learning!

If there is one thing that teenagers like it is playingand gaming! When we think of learning we never imagine it to be fun like playing some games. But we are wrong!Gaming and learning can go hand in hand with each other. If a teacher wants to grab their students attention they need to do stuff that interests them and games are the way to a students heart. We assume that all games out there arent edcational but in reality there are many that can in fact be educational and fun at the same time. And sometimes students dont realize it but these educational games can indeed be fun. Like as i was playing oregon, an educational game online about the journey west, i was having lots of fun but at the same time i was learning without me even noticing. So gaming and learning can indeed go together hand in hand!!

six word story

Family together, one goal, journey west!

Humans are Humans!

African- Americans have had a rather controversial history throughout the passing of the years. And with the civil war this was no difference. Once the north wan the war, the south was no longer in control of slaves. Slavery was not practiced by the North so once they won one would expect that slaves were going to be free and were going to be given rigths just like the rest of the people. But sadly this was not the case. when the reconstruction after the war started to take place black codes were introduced. Black codes was the term used for laws passed by the south that denied many things to black people. their goal was to keep African-Americans as close to slavery as they could. It was practically a nice way of referring to them as slaves.

Black codes basically limited the human rights of the blacks. White people wanted to make sure that blacks new that they were the supremacy and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. After the civil war many slaves were all ready free but these black codes practically chained them to a sate of almost slavery. under these black codes black people weren't allowed to vote or do jury duty at court hearings even of people of their own race. They couldn't carry any weapons, not even for self defense, they were not allowed to testify against any white man in court and they were limited on what occupations they could carry. Or in many states these codes also restricted them from even working or being employed. All states didn't necessarily have the same exact laws or black codes, but they all in forced the same kind of treatment to all African- Americans. sometimes they were even controlled on weather they could marry or who they could marry and how.

Many white people took advantage of these ex-slaves and used them for jobs that they didn't want to carry out themselves. sharecropping was a very popular trend in the time of reconstruction. white farm owners would rent out living spaces to black people and in return they would have to pay with part of their crops, sometimes even more than half. they were forced to sign contracts and follow the regulations given by the land owners just to be able to carry out their lives and do something with them.

in the 1950’s the civil rights movement was first promoted. The purpose of these movements was to outlaw racial discrimination against African- Americans. They were basically a series of events, or movements, between the 1950’s and 1960’s of black people trying to fight and defend themselves and their rights as human beings. These movements were targeted towards white people. they were made so that they could open their eyes and see the inequality that there was between both races. They wanted to show that they too were ordinary people add that they should be able to have the same rights as any normal human being. Discrimination was a big barrier and it was the main one that needed to be broken. They targeted all areas of normal life from education to a simple ride on the bus. If they all live in a nation created by God, then why shouldn't and couldn't they be treated the same?

Well their movements worked and sooner than later their voices were heard and things started to change drastically for the good and benefit of African-Americans. Now in the 20Th century everybody is treated the same in the united sates. Slavery no longer exists and humans are humans no matter what race, or sex, or color. and we should all be proud of being Americans!    

Sources : http://www.themorris.org/ourcollection/morrison-weighing.html

,http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=black+codes&FORM=BIFD#focal=9a3c45c2918a26d19025d4d0b7a7a3f9&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fafrotexan.com%2Ffreedmen%2Ffreedman.jpg , http://www.ipoaa.com/black_codes_louisians_miss_ohio.htm , http://www.historyonthenet.com/Slave_Trade/civilrights.htm

To grant or not to grant??

 Should the post civil war southerners have received amnesty? well this topic brings a lot of mixed feelings to my head. The north won this war i think fair and square. In my opinion the deserved to win because they had greater power and better beliefs, such as their thoughts on slavery. Now southerners were not necessarily bad people, They too had their good arguments and they were entitled to their opinions. In my opinion i think that they should have been granted amnesty. If we look at it on the positive side we can conclude many things. If we grant them amnesty we have less problems, or at least that's what we predict. It definitely helped to stop the rather controversial thinking of the Southerners and would have shown them that Abraham Lincoln was the man and he had the power, and there was nothing they could do about it!

I believe that this picture is a representation of the civil war in many ways. When i first saw it i immediately was drawn to it. In the shadows of the image we can see Abraham Lincoln who was the president at the time of the civil war. We see that his shadow statue is standing up on a higher surface and is rather large. I think this aids in getting the audience to see him as the higher power, which he was at the time. In the background we can observe the picture of the American flag. If it hadn't been for the north winning the war, we probably wouldn't have our flag today. I see it as a sign of pride and beauty of our country. The north fought for it and they surely got it. it is very beautifully blended in the picture giving it a sense of power, purity, and tranquility. This picture consists of the two main things that made us the united sates of America! I guess we can call it our signs of representation, of which we should all be proud of!

Thinking the right way !

                      During the civil war the president elect was Abraham Lincoln. he was on the union side off course, which is the North side. He wasn't really against slavery but neither was he for it. he was neutral about the subject and always said whatever it was he had to say to please the crowd he was talking to. He preferred preserving the union rather than slavery for the simple reason that he happened to be thinking the right way! he was a smart man and realized that preserving such a country that would succeed in many ways and was going to work out better for the future. And choosing the union over slavery was definitely the right thing to do!! good job and thank you very much Mr. Abraham Lincoln!

Image source : http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabulousminge/3468410546/

No Bueno!

              Stereotypes! When we hear this word many things come to our head: nerd, jock, emo, class clown, preppy, and many more. I believe that stereotypes are widely known by so many in our society for many reasons. Now a days everything is based on how people look or act whether we like it or not. We have been building these stereotypes throughout the years without us even noticing. what we do is we join a book by its cover and don't get to know a person well without stereotyping them, or classifying them into a certain group. This is not at all ethically right. Many people just follow what others think and adopt their thoughts in which stereotypes are included. Also many times end up being hypocritical without even noticing it. They stereotype a person that might have the same qualities they do. so stereotypes have practically became pert of our society and everybody know what they are and many times they stereotype people weather they wanted to or not, which is not always good : /

Does it all matter??

Does history matter? Explain.

         Off course history matters!! many times people, like me, believe that hisstory is rather boring sometines. But i do believe that it matters! History is the bulding blocks of our country and pretty much the whole world. We do need history because based upon it we can learn of the mistakes that were done before from previous generations and try make better of it!without history we wouldnt know were we come from, and if we didnt know that, i think it would be a little problem! History defines us and our growth in all aspects.

lies lies lies!!

"History is the lie commonly agreed upon." What did Voltaire mean by this quote?

               I believe that Voltaire meant many things by this quote! Since we are in elementary school we learn about history. All types of history : american, world, etc. previous to this we didnt have any knowledge, so everything that we were told we believed!! i didnt know many things were a lie until i got into my wonderful history teacher Mr.Meechin's class! so know i see that what this quote means is that history is the lie that is commonly agreed upon because we believe what we hear! we believe everything because we accept it as the truth, as we are not previously knowledge on the fact that is all a lie! so we all agree upon history as we are told it!