For Research: "Holocaust Video Testimony"

Video testimony of Holocaust victims tells personal stories and experiences while allowing the viewer to see the emotion found in the men and women who endured this process. Video testimony brings an amount of interest that a book could never bring. 


In a way, the videos add credibility to the stories being told. Someone would have to go to an extreme amount of trouble to fake a Holocaust testimony video. The reality of the situation is brought to light in the videos.


Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=72EHKDgL2Rc&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6ptSNgun4s

For Research: "Human Rights vs. Civil Rights"

Human rights are rights that every human is automatically given upon birth, regardless of race, sex, nationality, or ethnicity.


A civil rights in an enforceable right or privilege, which may cause harm if interfered with. 


Human rights include: the right to life, equality before the law, freedom of expression, rights to work, social security, educational opportunity, and the rights to development. 


Civil rights include: freedom of press, speech, and assembly, equality in public places, freedom from involuntary servitude, and the right to vote. 


Sources:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Civil_rights
http://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx

For Research: "Nuremberg Laws of 1935"

First declared at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in 1935, these laws called for the exclusion of Jews from German life, as well as taking away some of the Jews' natural rights. Two laws were included in the Nuremberg Laws: Reichsburgergesetz and  Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und der Deutschen Ehre.


Reichsburgergesetz (Law of the Reich Citizen) was designed to take citizenship from the Jews, leaving only those with blood ties to Germany to live as members of the Reich.


Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und der Deutschen Ehre (Law For the protection of German Blood and German Honor) was designed to make it illegal for a Jew to marry a German. 

Due to the laws, Jews could not vote, have independence, and had difficulty in doing things such as shopping or going to the theater. 

Source:

http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/WestEurope/NuremLaws.html

For Research: "Mandelstam After Arrest"

Osip Mandelstam was a prominent poet during Stalin's reign; known for Stalin's Epigram, in which Mandelstam openly criticized Stalin. The government did not like Mandelstam's works, resulting in the poets arrest on May 13, 1934. 


After his arrest, Mandelstam was exiled to Cherdyn, only allowed to return to Moscow in May of 1937. During the Great Purge, Mandelstam refused to adopt Social Realism, causing him to be attacked by the public. In addition to being attacked, he was accused of having anti-Soviet views, causing more conflict for the poet. 


After months of attack, Mandelstam was arrested in 1938 and charged with "counter-revolutionary activities". His sentence was to serve five years in correction camps. The poet was to transported to a Siberian transit camp to serve the duration of his sentence.

Mandelstam did not finish his sentence due to his death in a transit camp near Vladivostock on December 7, 1938. There are many supposed causes of death, including: heart failure, typhus, and insanity. 

Life in exile had its issues, including lack of food, work, and communication with friends and family. As for the correction camps in which the poet was imprisoned, the conditions are unclear but one can infer the brutal and inhumane conditions based onthe result of his stay. 

Sources:

Kipreyeva, Alyona. "Prominent Russians: Osip Mandelstam". <http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/literature/osip-mandelstam/>

<http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSmandelstam.htm>

For Research: "Ethical Guidelines for Journalists"

Journalists, although writing cutting-edge stories that are filled with drama and information, have certain guidelines that are to be followed, including:

• Seek Truth and Report It
• Test accuracy, identify sources, question sources' motives, avoid undercover ways of acquiring information, NEVER PLAGIARIZE, avoid stereotypes, support different views, give voice to the voiceless, and distinguish news from advertising.
• Minimize Harm
• Show compassion, be sensitive, recognize possible harm/discomfort, recognize privacy, show good taste, be cautious of the subject, and think of the criminal and his right to trial and accusation before being formally charged. 
• Act Independently
• Avoid conflict, avoid credibility harming situations, refuse anything that could compromise integrity, be vigilant, and avoid information for pay. 
• Be Accountable
• Clarify and explain, encourage public grievances, admit and correct mistakes, expose unethical practices, and abide by high standards.

Sources:

SPJ Code of Ethics. <http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp>

Blogging Notes: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

1. Personal liberation, in the book, can be seen as setting one's self free, rather allowing the staff to control them. The book isn't really anti-woman, it just shows them in a different light-the bossy ones, the religious ones, and the whores. The "good" female characters aren't mean and see the patients as people rather than mental patients and freaks that should be feared. This book has a woman in power for the most part, as in other books the men normally hold the power. 
2. "Ratched" alludes to the word "ratchet" which is a tool with teeth on it. The teeth on the tool symbolize Nurse Ratched's harsh ways and unrestrained power. 
3. In this era, American women were becoming more prominent, holding more power and leverage in society. 
4. I don't see the book as racist, but it has racist tendencies; especially when talking about the aides (the "black boys"). African-Americans were not as integrated in society at this time. 
5. McMurphy is almost a saint sent to the ward in the patients' eyes. The electroshock table is shaped like a cross and there is talk about a crown of thorns, alluding to Jesus and his crucifixion. Candy can be seen as a teasing substance to McMurphy, but I'm not sure how that goes along with any religious ties. 
6. As in America at the time, the introduction of a new character and way of life completely changes the course society takes. The nature of the revolt is brought on by one person causing the rest of the people to rebel; the domino effect. 
7. This shows that McMurphy has experience in nonconformity and defiance. Communists were a big topic during this time, resulting in paranoia in America. In the ward, Nurse Ratched is the communist, while the patients are America, as shown when Chief believes Nurse Ratched is changing the time on the clocks. 
8. Chief is a reliable narrator, until influenced by some kind of drug or anything along the lines of that. The fact that he is an Indian represents the struggle Indians have gone through in their lives and how Chief is struggling in the ward. Chief thinks the Combine is out to control every aspect of the ward and its patients. His liberation takes the form of going against the ward and eventually escaping. 
9. There are many instances in the book where Chief goes off from the story into his own little world where he recalls fragments of occurrences from his childhood and things like that. 
10. In the 1960s, drugs were everywhere. Hippies had weed, crack, meth, acid, etc. This book tells us about the use of drugs and the view of the use of drugs in society. 
11. The book expresses many of the same ideas and thoughts of the rebels of the 1960s.
12. This recalls the book Gulliver's Travels and its opinion and relationship with society and its actions. This period was a time of rebellion withing the country; the government was corrupt and the people were going crazy. In Kesey's eyes, modern America has become too concerned with conformity and does not know how to change what is going on in the world. 
13. The book seems cynical because of how Nurse Ratched runs the ward. She overrules the vote during the World Series debate because she wanted to win. 
14. This hows that the radicalists in the 1960s will end up in mental facilities due to their constant drug use and their ideas. 
15. McMurphy is a control freak; he is power hungry. With gambling, he knows how to work the cards to his benefit and outsmart his opponents. The authorities see him as a cheater due to the fact that he wins all the time, only for his benefit. 
16. Considering the constant machine references, Big Nurse could symbolize the government, which is a machine in a way. The government, at the time controlled everything, as does Nurse Ratched. 
17. The portrays liberation as personal freedom, mental and physical. Liberation, in a political sense, is the representation of the community by one person, not fully guaranteeing one's personal freedom or expression of ideas. 
18. When Chief has his dreams and flashbacks, it is apparent that Kesey was under the influence of some form of drug. Look at the word choice and description of what is going on. There are also instances where spelling and grammar just fly out the window, showing his influence. 
19. Laughter is a theme of the book because of the seriousness of society during the time. For Kesey, it serves as an escape from reality. 
20. The "loonies" see the world from a different perspective than the "normal" society, showing that they have their own thoughts, rather than society's thoughts. Insanity is the only sane response to an insane world. Crime can be seen as a matter of sanity, rather than a matter of motive. Social policy would be affected by this by the changing outlook of the citizens on the world, altering their decisions. 
21. Kesey wants society to lighten up and have some fun. The best way to reform society is to think to an extent, but not think too much. 
22. There is a great amount of imagery and similes in the novel, showing the true nature of Kesey as a person, as well as the characters in the novel. It gives readers and Kesey something to use to picture what is going on in the novel. 

For Research: "Sweatshops"

Sweatshops exist all over the world. The awful conditions provide for the hatred of the sweatshop practice. Conditions and abuses in sweatshops consist of: wages so low, the workers cannot meet the basic standards of living, dangerous and substandard working and living conditions, uncompensated overtime, and sexual harassment. 


Consumers buying products made in sweatshops range anywhere from people who buy Nikes to people who buy groceries from WalMart. Anyone buying any product can unknowingly buy products made in sweatshops. 


There have been, and are, many struggling efforts to change the use and conditions of sweatshops. There are countless websites and informational articles on the change of sweatshops for the better. 


Sources:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nshah/fashioncrimes/Sweatshops.html